Not Quite Right
by crimsonpuddle
Summary: A Doctor lookalike has stumbled - quite literally - into Torchwood. And Rose is forced to embark on her most terrifying adventure yet: to live out her life with John Smith rather than the Doctor. Adventure set in S3. Doctor/Rose reunion. Doomsday spoilers
1. Not Quite The Doctor

Disclaimer: Not mine - it's the BBC's. Even the idea wasn't primarily mine. Thanks go to Built on the Horizon, because although this story is pretty much completely different to hers, I got the idea for it after reading one of her stories, and I think it's probably my initial influence. So I literally own nothing here.  
Set: Now, if I told you that, the story wouldn't surprise you, would it? Okay...it's set after Rose but before the Master. I'll tell you that much.

Okay, this story has developed from a number of things, namely:  
1. My rewatching a certain series 3 episode a few days ago (so Braceface Freak may have an idea, hint hint).  
2. My reading the story 'Knowing Rose Tyler' by Built on the Horizon, which reminded me of...  
3. That series 3 episode again. I'm saying nothing more.

Basically, I pretty much don't have a clue what's going on anymore than you do. You'll get the idea of the story as it goes on. Enjoy! (Oh, and first one to guess who the man is gets a jelly baby. Just 'cause they're awesome.)

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**Chapter 1: Not Quite The Doctor**

The first thing he noticed was light. So much light - reflecting off cars, windows, walls, anything it could find that would relay its pattern of blinding whiteness. He was sure it hadn't been this bright in…wherever he had just been. He rubbed his eyes, squinted up at the sky, and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He groaned as his head gave an overwhelming lurch of pain, and clutched the sides of his head frustratedly. After a moment, he slowly pushed himself up so he was standing, grabbing the side of a bin for support. He blinked numerous times, adjusting to the new light, then opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings.

The place was completely empty of life, and the tall figure released the bin and staggered over to a bench to sit down, relief washing over his mind and he rested. Looking around once more, he could see objects that, although he was sure he recognised, he knew he had never seen before in his life. With the question of 'Where the hell am I?' beckoning, he glanced around nervously, trying to identify anything. There was a wall - a threatening, looming wall, stretching into the sky for an eternity - and a lot of crates. Hundreds of boxes and cases surrounded him, on forklifts or in piles, seemingly waiting to be transported somewhere.  
So, a warehouse of some kind? He glanced up the wall that was stood so far in front of him; it consisted of many, many windows, reaching right up to the top, and a single door in front of him. But the light from the sun bounced off the wall and hurt his eyes, so he looked away quickly. Looking around once more, he made a mental note of everything he saw. There were crates - lots of them - and the ones to his left were labelled, but the ones to his right were not. The ones to his right seemed disorganised, whereas the boxes to his left were ordered and arranged systematically, with signs above each cluster of boxes that his mind couldn't quite make out. There were a few more benches and bins around the place. By looking around the corner, he could see a car park, and by looking back at where he had stumbled over from, there was just a strange blue box, hidden away in the corner. Everything seemed so familiar, yet he had no idea where he was. But when he saw the blue box in the corner, he felt the slightest hint of recognition.

Without another moment, a loud claxon sounded, and the man flinched at the loud, sudden noise. He heard footsteps approaching and went to hide, but there was nowhere to go. He realised suddenly that he had no reason to hide, and instead sat patiently on the bench, waiting for someone to come along who he could ask where he was. Sure enough, after a while, people started filing out of the building and walking over to the crates. Some workers appeared from around the corner; others seemed to have been standing outside all the time, just out of view. Needless to say, they all started talking after seconds, and began moving the crates around, labelling them and writing things on clipboards as they went.

After a short while, a professional looking man wearing a smart, business-like suit walked up to him.

"'Scuse me, sir, can I help you?" he asked, and the man recognised him from the accent to be from London.

"Is this London?" he asked, suddenly not sure of where he was once more.

"Yes." the stranger replied cautiously. "You okay? You do look a bit pale. D'you need to lie down?"

The man nodded. "I think I do, yeah." The stranger nodded understandingly, and led him into the building, observing the other workers as he went.

"What's your name?" the worker asked as he led the man quickly down the corridors, and he felt a name on the tip of his tongue, though he wasn't sure what it was until he'd said it.

"John. John Smith." he replied simply, and jogged slightly to catch up with the man.

"You work here?" he was asked, and nodded, though he wasn't sure why, as he only had a faint recollection of ever being in the strange place. "ID?"

He instinctively reached into his suit pocket and fumbled about, before his fingers closed around a small metal disk. He released the object, as if scalded, and continued to search around in his pocket. He felt leather…yep, definitely leather - a wallet. He opened it and held it up to the man without bothering to check what it said, but he seemed to accept it. He turned the wallet towards himself, but found that it was blank. He frowned, and was about to ask why the man had just accepted a blank ID card, when he realised the person he was following had disappeared.

"Hello?" he asked hopefully, stuffing the wallet back into his pocket.

"Lift." he heard from a few metres away, and he dashed into the lift just before the doors closed. The two men stood in silence while the lift ascended, but only John stepped out when it ground to a halt.

"You seem better, I need to go back and check on my employees." he said in a way of explanation. "Medical room is down the corridor, then to your left, then second door on the right." The lift doors closed before John could ask anything else, and he was once again alone, in a place that seemed familiar but most definitely wasn't.

Forgetting all about the blank identity card, the blue box downstairs and the man's directions, he set off down the corridor and turned right.

- - - - - - - -

"Look, would you just _stop_?" she insisted, punching her fist down on the table for effect. "We're going in _there_ -" she indicated to a point at the side of the map with her pen, "- and that's final." One of the people she had been arguing with started to protest, but she cut him off. "Mickey, leave it! I'm project manager, and my word's final." He glared at her and she glared back. "Look, if we go in there -" she pointed to a different place on the blueprint, "- they'll slaughter us." The girl smirked but Rose glared at her too. "And don't you start." she added, wiping the smile of the girl's face. "If we go in where you said, we'd be sitting in the engine room of their ship when we blew it up."

The woman walked away, brushing her fingers through her blonde hair, and walked back over to her own desk, tapping the pen on her hand subconsciously, and leaving her two team-mates to whisper arguments and laughter in each other's ear whilst pointing frantically at different places on the map.

She looked up as the door opened to reveal John, who walked in looking confused and slightly worried. She let the pen fall to the floor clumsily and Mickey and Kate looked up from their 'subtle' flirting match to see what the problem was. The open doors were blocked from their view by Rose, who was stood frozen in the middle of the room, staring at the man, who in turn stared back at her awkwardly.

"What, Rose?" Mickey asked, trying not to laugh and the face Kate was making behind Rose's back. "Rose?" he tried again, but she didn't answer, transfixed on the face of the man at the door.

John turned his head to look behind him, but there was no one there. Dodging to one side, then the other, he found that the woman's eyes followed his every movement.

"Uh, hello, there." he said awkwardly, seeming quite distracted. "Not…really sure…uh…Where I was going, I mean. Kind of, lost my…sense of direction." he glanced down the corridor to either side of him, then turned back to face Rose inside the room, who was still staring blankly at him.

"Doctor?" she breathed out, almost inaudibly, and he snapped back into life, startling her.

"Doctor!" he cried, and she jumped back an inch, but John seemed to have hurt himself with his outburst. "Ow…okay, there's that headache…again. Sorry. Bad migraine. It…comes and goes. But that's what I was looking for - medical! Thanks." and with not another word, he turned calmly to the left and let the double-door fall closed in front of him as he walked calmly away to the side.

Seconds later, the door was pushed open again, and once more, John was on the other side. "Sorry, but uh…what-what's with the…" he trailed off, signalling to his own face, and Rose took that as a sign to mean she had been freaking him out by staring at him. But when she didn't answer, and kept staring at him, he dropped his hand to the side calmly. "Okay…well, goodbye."

Rose became suddenly aware that she wasn't breathing, and she choked on a breath when she tried to take one. She noticed that Mickey was stood to one side of her and Kate was on the other.

"Medical? Too right - what a freak." Kate let out a high-pitched, girlish giggle and prodded Mickey's side behind Rose's back. "Psychiatric, more like." But this time, Mickey didn't retaliate to Kate's childish games.

"That was…" He raised his hand and pointed to the door that the man he knew as the Doctor had so recently walked away from. "The...the Doctor." he finished quietly.

Rose nodded weakly, feeling the blood rushing from her face. So she almost expected it when she felt herself falling to the ground. And she almost expected it when she woke up in the medical room, with someone who looked like her Doctor, but wasn't quite aware of it. Yet.

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Whoo! Hope you liked it, and that it didn't confuzzle you too much. Hey, I just realised, I do own something! Kate! Kate is all mine. I made her up. (She's Rose and Mickey's field partner, if you didn't guess.)  
Anyone guess who the man was before the name was mentioned? It _was_ pretty obvious. Still, as promised, jelly babies go to all who did. So...theories anyone? Which series 3 episode am I talking about? Who's John Smith (yeah right, like you don't all know)? Where's the Doctor - or his mind, at least? What's the _hell_ is going on? Anyone want a jelly baby?  
And before you say it, think it, or even _think_ about thinking it...yeah, I love jelly babies at the moment. Not sure why.

Oh, and here's a sneak peek at the next chapter:  
_"Do you know your name?" she asked.  
"Of course I do." he replied, offended. "John Smith, nice to meet you. We didn't really get the chance to say hello yesterday." He held out his hand and she took it nervously.  
"Rose Tyler." she muttered, just loud enough for John to hear. When he did, he looked into her eyes, just for a second, and it was as if something stirred inside him. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone._

Wheeeee! Now, review please!


	2. Not Quite All There

Disclaimer: You can have a jelly baby if I don't have to say it. :P

Okay, so this chapter includes a flashback, some memories and a lot of confusion.  
Thanks for the reviews, and to answer a few things you mentioned:  
-The Horned Marten (love the name): Don't worry, we're getting there. She's in this chapter, actually. Well, kind of.  
-Since I got mixed reviews about how in character John and Rose were, I'll say this much: First, Rose isn't the same as when we saw her last in Doomsday. She's grown up quite a bit and has had to become slightly more mature; second, John Smith is not the same as the Doctor. Nor is he the same as John Smith from Family of Blood, if that's what you were thinking. I don't want to say much now, because it will ruin my surprise for later ;)  
-Nice theories everyone. One of you is quite close, but I won't reveal who just yet. Jelly babies go to all that tried, just because I'm still hyper for them, lol. Keep them coming!

So, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2: Not Quite All There**

_A fortress encased in a golden sphere__…__no, a clear glass sphere__…__it was the sky that was golden. The twin suns, burning a bright red in the ominous sky. Snow-capped mountains sloping away from him, leading far away, forever and ever. And silver leaves rustling in the cool autumn breeze, catching the light just so and making them shine across the city. A magnificent temple - the citadel of the Time Lords.  
__A war. The last great Time War. Fighting for all of creation.  
__Burning__…__everything burning. Gallifrey__…__its name just an omen of the grief it left. Gone__…__gone forever. Burning; the deep red grass in flames under the destroyed suns. Everything was long since gone - crumbling into non-existence. His mind was burning for all eternity__…__he was alone__…__so alone. Everything was gone - everything destroyed. His home__…__his mind__…__his heart - his hearts. _

The first thing he noticed was the light. Again. He sat bolt upright, thinking to himself that he really must stop doing that, and stared straight ahead. The night's dream reappeared in his mind and he laid back, thoughtful for a moment. That's when he realised that this time, he was not on the floor. He clenched his hands into fists around smooth bed sheets and frowned. It was once again too bright, but this time, it was white. Everything was white - the walls, the bed, the floor, the ceiling, the chair by the side of his bed, the girl sitting in the chair. Wait, the girl wasn't wearing white. She was wearing brown. And a bit of white. A suit. He leant forwards to see her face, which was resting limply on her hand, with her blonde hair cascading down her face, hiding it from view.

Then it all clicked into place. The girl from yesterday who wouldn't stop staring - John made a mental note to advise some mental help when she awoke. He pulled back the bedcovers, wondering for the second time in two days where on Earth he was, and realised he was no longer wearing that ridiculous suit he had on yesterday - the one with the unusually large pockets, or those red trainers he had seen as he walked along the corridors of the building. What he was wearing, however, was unsurprisingly, mostly white. It was hospital clothes, he realised. Stepping out of bed and heading for the door, he heard the sound of someone waking up, and turned to look at the girl.

"Where d'you think you're going?" she asked, and he froze.

"Well, I was thinking…uh, outside?" he offered uselessly, and she frowned.

"No." she shook her head, and this time John frowned. "You heard what the doctors said - the actual doctors, I mean - now get into bed." John obeyed, though not sure why. With hundreds of questions on his mind, he stared at her as she had stared at him yesterday, studying her body language as she rubbed her eyes and brushed back her hair.

"What?" she asked subconsciously, and he looked away immediately. "Look, Doctor, about yesterday: I -"

"The doctors are outside." John frowned, and her face paled as it had done yesterday. "And why am I in here? I take it this _is_ a hospital?" He asked the first two questions that entered his mind.

"You…you still think…" Rose began, but trailed off. "D'you know your name?" she asked.

"Of course I do." he replied, offended. "John Smith, nice to meet you. We didn't really get the chance to say hello yesterday." He held out his hand and she took it nervously.

"Rose Tyler." she muttered, just loud enough for John to hear. When he did, he looked into her eyes, just for a second, and it was as if something stirred inside him. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone. "What do you mean yesterday?" she added. "If you're talking about that little stint in Torchwood, that was days ago. And there's no 'John Smith' on the staff records, so don't even bother trying that one again…" He could hear her talking, but he wasn't listening to the words. Torchwood…again, it caused something to flicker in John's mind, and this 'Doctor' she kept mentioning…

"Mr Smith?" he heard, and snapped back to life.

"Yeah." he replied. "Days ago, you say?" He frowned, his mind working furiously. When he saw her out of the corner of his eye, he could see her staring at him once more. "You're doing it again." he said simply, and she knew what he meant immediately. She looked away, flushing, then turned back to face him, avoiding eye contact.

"Sorry." she said meekly. "It's just…I've got this friend. You look just like him. I mean really, just like him. And he sometimes went by that name - John Smith." she stopped abruptly, not knowing why she was opening up about the Doctor to a complete stranger, when she had refused to talk about him to anyone else for almost five years now. John didn't answer, and he felt the past few days' events wash over him as he properly awoke.

"I remember now…I fell over - no, I fainted - outside, at Torchwood. Was it Torchwood, did you say? And then I saw you...And the doctors, yeah, they said I had to rest. Then they stuck a needle in me. Then I fainted again. I do an awful lot of that, don't I?" he finished with a distateful look, and Rose couldn't help but smile. "But you just said I wasn't on the system." he said suddenly, turning back to Rose. "How can I not be - I've worked there for years!" Rose frowned.

"Alright, well just…give us your ID card and let me make a call." She stood up and reached for her bag, but changed her mind and left it on the floor. John glanced around at the white room and saw his blue suit hanging on the door of a wardrobe. He made a movement to get up, but Rose put her hand on his chest to signal for him to stay in bed. John flinched at the connection, as if static electricity was running through him, and he could have sworn Rose felt the same. They froze for a second, and John could have sworn he felt her feeling his chest for something. Then she pulled away abruptly and walked over to his suit, avoiding looking directly at him.

"Left pocket." he said, still recovering from the surprise of the contact, and she delicately reached into his pocket and pulled a number of things out. She inspected the outside of the pocket with a frown, but shook her thoughts away and looked at what she had pulled out in her hand. She threw it down on the bed in front of John, still avoiding his gaze, and he rifled through it distractedly. There was a piece of string, a number of pens, a key (he could have sworn that Rose shivered when she saw it), a few wires, an old fob watch, and the leather wallet. Again, he was sure he saw Rose back away when she saw it, and when he held it out to her, she only took it reluctantly.

"I'll be right back." she whispered, taking her phone out of her back pocket and clutching the leather wallet as if afraid it would slip out of her fingers. "Don't go anywhere." she added, walking out of the door, and looking - if John didn't know any better - rather scared.

"Mum, I'm telling you -" Rose was cut off by her mother's voice on the other side of the call.

"Rose, darling, I know you miss him, but you've got to face it some day. He's not coming back, and you -"

"Mum, I swear, it looks exactly like him." Rose insisted, and she could sense already that she was going to get another lecture on the importance of getting enough sleep so you don't become delusional. "Look, just get dad, will you?" she asked, before Jackie could start talking. She heard a sigh on the other end of the line and waited for her dad to come to the phone, subconsciously twirling the leather wallet around in her hand. She looked at it for a second before opening it slowly. Blank. A blank piece of paper was the only thing that the wallet consisted of. Rose blinked a few times, but it was still blank.

"Rose?" she heard on the other end of the line, and she looked away from the wallet.

"Dad? Yeah, it's me. Look, this John Smith guy, you said he wasn't on the records, right?"

"Yeah. You're not still at that hospital, are you?" Rose could almost see him frowning in disapproval.

"Look, it's him, dad, I swear." she insisted. "Anyway, can you check the Torchwood system again? 'Cause he says he's worked there for years." She heard a muffled "yes" and turned off the phone with a sense of achievement, even though nothing had been done yet.

She walked back into the hospital and found her way back to John's room, with just one thing playing on her mind. She hadn't mentioned the blank ID card.

When she returned to John Smith's room, closing the door quietly and slowly to give herself time to think, he was sat in the hospital bed frowning. She sat in the chair and looked over to where he was staring - at the bare white wall in front of the bed.

"I…" he began, trailing off. "I work at Torchwood." he started again. Rose didn't reply. "I remember that. I've been there for years. Then I woke up. Outside…I was outside, and there were boxes." he turned suddenly to look at Rose. "Lots of boxes outside." She still didn't speak, although the poor man looked to her like he had a severe case of memory loss - although he still seemed to know who he was and where he worked.

"I think it's probably just the treatment." she told him, trying to be comforting but not able to keep the image of the Doctor out of her mind. "The nurses said it might give you a bit of amnesia. It'll wear off after a few days."

John nodded slowly, still frowning, and didn't speak for a while.

"Martha!" he burst out suddenly, and Rose jumped out of her skin with surprise.

"Sorry?" she asked, eyes wide open.

"There…there was a girl with me. I'm sure. She was…dark hair. Dark skin. Red top, and jeans. Martha…Martha…" he searched his mind for a last name to company the image in his mind. "…Jones." he said finally. "Martha Jones, her name was."

Rose nodded. "Okay." she said slowly. If this _was_ the Doctor, who was Martha? A new companion?

'_Actually, even if this _is_ the Doctor, he doesn't seem to know what he's going on about anyway.'_ she thought, giving him a sceptical look.

Before Rose could ask who Martha Jones actually _was_, a nurse entered the room and walked over to John's side.

"Good morning, Mr Smith." she said, politely but slightly motherly. He gave a small smile in return, but didn't speak as she busied herself checking his vitals and writing on a clipboard. "You're finally awake then, I see. We were getting worried." John still didn't reply, and neither did he say anything when the nurse left.

"Look, I'd better go." Rose said suddenly, realising that she had no clear reason to stay - at least, it wasn't clear to John.

"Oh." He said, surprised. "I…okay then. Why were you here, anyway? Did you faint too?" he asked, joking, but Rose could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

"I..I, uh, did, actually. Yeah. But I woke up straight after. You've been out for days. I just came to check you were okay." Rose said nervously, pretending to look for something in her bag. "Yeah, so I'd better be off." she said, and walked towards the door.

"Are you sure?" she was asked, and she turned back to look at him, hand on the door handle.

She nodded, gathering up her things. "I should get back to work. Mr Tyler might be my father, but I was supposed to go in yesterday, and I would've done if -"

"He's the boss." John interrupted suddenly, and Rose smiled a little.

"That's right. Told you your memory'd come back soon enough." John frowned - he had no idea how he'd known that, even though he was sure he'd worked in that building. "Look," she continued, walking slowly to the door. "I've asked dad - Mr Tyler, I mean - to check the records for your name, but I can't promise he'll find anything. But if he does, I'll probably see you at Torchwood. Oh yeah, and you'd better have this back." she took a few steps forward and threw the leather wallet onto the bed a couple of inches in front of John's hands, which flicked open to reveal his ID card. She walked forward a few more steps.

"But that's…" she blinked, but it was still there, clear as the sky outside. She looked up at John, who showed no emotion, and then turned around quickly and walked out of the door.

'_I'm going mad, I'm going mad, I'm going mad, I'm going mad…'_ she thought as she power-walked down the halls of the hospital, suddenly feeling quite sick. _'This is just wrong. A man who looks like the Doctor but has no idea and is, quite frankly, a bit of a nutter. ID cards that disappear randomly in front of your eyes. It's all this paperwork - it's getting to me at last.'_

And with that through, she burst out of the double-doors at the entrance to the hospital, practically leapt into her car, and raced home to have a long, soothing bath.

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Aww, poor Rose is going mad. Or is she? And if any of you thought you saw the VERY important but only VERY briefly mentioned 'thing' in this chapter that will tell you everything you need to know about the plot, let me know with a subtle review. But don't give the game away for those that didn't see it.

All will become clear next chapter. :cue dramatic music:

Review please! And it's Silence in the Library tomorrow! Whooo! Enjoy it! :)


	3. Not Quite The Expected Assignment

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, setting, and kind of not even the plot, as you will find out in this chapter, if you don't already know. In fact, half of this chapter isn't actually mine either.

Sorry it took so long for me to update, but I wanted to write more of chapter 4 first. It may be a while before that's up too, but I'm getting there. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm really enjoying writing the story, and I hope you're enjoying reading it too! You have no idea how happy it makes me when I get even just one review, so thank you so much! There are quite a few things from a Doctor Who episode in this chapter, so it might get a bit dull, but hang in there!

A few notes to my reviewers:  
-Dollybelle'olwhatserface: I think you've it right about the ID wallet. I'm saying nothing more.  
-Lady Clark-Weasley: I pretty much have to bring Martha in a bit, since she's pretty key to the plot. But since I hate the Doctor/Martha pairing, she's not going to be in it much. (Don't worry though - there's no character bashing involved.)  
-Hope you all enjoyed Silence in the Library! I thought it was okay-ish, but I can't WAIT for Forest of the Dead - it's going to be ace!

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**Chapter 3: Not Quite The Expected Assignment**

"So, how's the nutter?" Mickey asked, and Rose cringed.

"Don't call him that." she told him, elbowing his side as they walked down the pathway to the building's entrance. In return, he hit her leg softly with hi briefcase, and she grinned.

"And since when do you bring a briefcase to work?" she laughed at him, and he mocked offence.

"Since I'm a professional, Rose Tyler. And since I actually _do_my paperwork." he smiled back, and she groaned, holding open the door for him as they entered the Torchwood tower.

"Oh, but it's so dull! Five years ago, I was exploring the universe in a little wooden box, and now I spend half my life in suit, sitting behind a desk, writing about it!" her smile dropped for a moment when she realised what she was talking about, but then she grinned again to cover it up. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed, but Mickey knew her well enough to see that she couldn't mention the subject without thinking about _him._

"Anyway," he said, steering them round a corner in the hallway. "What's up with that guy? Is it a parallel Doctor, or what?"

Rose froze. "I hadn't thought of that." she said, frowning. "No, it can't be. And even if it was, why would he be saying he worked here?"

Mickey shrugged, and Rose continued walking. "Well, your dad's called him in." Rose turned her head to look at him as they entered an empty lift. "Yeah, 'cause he thinks that virus from a couple of weeks ago might've wiped him off the system."

Rose didn't speak, considering the possibility, and Mickey pressed a button. The lift started moving before Rose spoke. "But what was he doing outside? He said…he woke up outside, or something. Then he was looking for the medical room, then he fainted."

"Exactly." Mickey said, as if she had just proved his point. "He's a nutter."

"But you saw him!" Rose insisted, as the lift doors pinged open and they stepped out. "It was him, and you know it."

"Rose, lots of people have look-alikes." he sighed, leading her down the corridor.

"But it wasn't just that; it felt like -" she cut off and stopped walking. "Hold on, our offices are that way." she pointed down the corridor in the opposite way to which they were walking, but continued following Mickey.

"Pete wants to see us. Some kind of assignment." he said simply, and Rose let her arm fall to her side.

"Really? Like, another field trip?" she smiled. "Great!" As much as she loved the explorations her job at Torchwood gave her, she had to feign most of her enthusiasm. The reason was simply that truthfully, she still worrying about the mysterious John Smith. Mickey seemed to buy it though, so she didn't say another word until they got to Pete's office.

They reached Pete's office and knocked on the door patiently. The door was opened by the secretary, who ushered them in, but they froze when they saw who was sat in the visitor's chair. Pete looked up as they walked over, sitting up straight in his chair behind the desk. Mickey took the chair furthest away from John, and Rose was left to take the seat next to him, not taking her eyes off Pete.

"Okay, good morning you two." he said wearily to Rose and Mickey, who nodded back quietly. "This is John Smith - he's the man who claims to have worked here for five years. Now as you know, when we checked the system for his records a few days ago, we couldn't find his. But of course, after that 'Storm' virus two weeks ago that wiped out all the records, we couldn't be sure. So when you asked us to check the system a second time," he indicated to Rose, "We did, and we found all his details there, along with another woman's records. And it's just like he said, he's worked here for years. We don't know how these two record entered the system, but don't worry, we're investigating that separately. Sorry, it's just that with all that's happened recently, we couldn't be too sure." The last sentence was clearly an apology to John, but neither him, Mickey or Rose spoke.

'_If he worked here in the first place, why are you bothering to tell us that he still _is _working here?__'_ Rose felt like asking, still looking firmly at Pete, though she could see John's eyes flitting to her direction every so often.

As if Pete had read her mind, he continued immediately. "The only problem is that he appears to have been absent for quite a while now - a few months, in fact - with a severe medical condition. According to your medical file, you were due to start back at Torchwood on Tuesday, which was the day you fainted, outside. Is that right?" John nodded his head in confirmation, and Pete continued. "But, what with the virus that took out half the system, followed by that attack last week, well…you've missed quite a lot, Mr Smith."

Pete turned to Rose and Mickey to see their reactions, and could almost feel Rose's eyes boring into him, as if asking him to get to the point. "So, after a lot of thought, the board decided that as long as the hospital agreed, he should be allowed to start back at work today. And the hospital has agreed."

Rose felt her heart lurch. '_Mr Smith__'__s going to be working _here_?__'_ she thought to herself, trying not to let her thoughts show on her face. She made to get up, but Pete stopped her with a look and she lowered herself back into the chair.

"That's not all. Since you've been away for such a long time, Mr Smith, your position at Torchwood has unfortunately been replaced, and in light of the recent events, we're sorry to say that we're unable to retract that person." As if expecting an outburst, Pete seemed to prepare himself for one, but John merely nodded, quite calmly.

"Okay." he said unsurely. "Well, that brings me to you, Miss Rose Tyler, and Mr Mickey Smith." he nodded to each of them in turn, and John smiled professionally to them both, though Rose still refused to look him in the eye. "I believe you may have already met Mr Smith here, which is one of the reasons why I believe this to be a good idea."

Rose could feel her brain about to explode with tension when Pete hesitated. "Mr Smith's records state that when he worked here, he was a field agent, and quite a good one at that. So…the board and I have decided that for the time being, Mr Smith, you should work alongside our two best field agents, which I'm sure you know, are these two here."

Rose felt her eyes widen. "What?" she gaped, without meaning to sound so rude.

Mickey didn't speak, but Rose guessed he was thinking the same as her.

'_He can__'__t be serious.__'_ she thought to herself, over and over again. _'__How can he possibly think this is a good idea? How can I work with someone who looks this much like the Doctor? Though, thankfully, he doesn__'__t act him at all.__'_ Rose shook the thoughts out of her head frustratedly. _'__What am I thinking?__'_

"Now, we've already discussed your accommodation," Pete was saying to John, though he direct the next part at Rose and Mickey, "So the only thing left for me to say is that Kate, your former partner will not be working with you for a few months." Mickey looked heartbroken, and he continued, smiling slightly. "Don't worry, she's not getting fired or anything - she's getting trained for that job she applied for in management."

Rose realised that she was staring at the desk uselessly and stood up, slightly out of sorts. She walked around the chair. "Okay." she muttered, fumbling with her jacket buttons. She turned and walked out the door. "Fine! Whatever."

She heard Mickey offering to "go talk to her" as the door shut, and a second later, he appeared behind her as she sped down the corridor. "Rose!" he said loudly, but she continued walking. He caught up with her and there was a pause before he spoke again. "I guess that assignment wasn't a field trip then." he said sheepishly.

"What was he thinking? He can't expect us to work with this - with _him_." Mickey didn't say anything. "What?" she asked at his unusual silence.

"It's just…" he began sheepishly. "You don't think it's really…him - do you?" Rose bit back the tears forming in her eyes. He stopped walking. "Rose?" he asked, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop.

"I don't know, Mickey! I…I don't know." She covered her mouth with her hand, not allowing the tears to show. "I don't know what's going on. And it's horrible. And I don't know if I can work next to someone who looks that much like…like him." she almost whispered the last word, and Mickey pulled her into a friendly hug.

"It's alright. We'll get though this. Promise." he said soothingly when they broke apart moments later. Rose breathed in and out deeply, and then, taking Mickey's hand, they walked back to their offices together in silence, with one face but two names on their minds.

- - - - - - -

Martha checked her watch for the fifth time that minute and sighed. She sat bolt upright on the bed and checked her watch yet again. Letting out a frustrated groan, she ripped off the watch and threw it across the room, then let herself fall back on the bed with too much energy to spare.

She stood up and walked out of her room, made her way through the many corridors of the TARDIS and found herself back in the console room. It hummed welcomingly to her, and she smiled weakly.

"He said wait a week, right?" Martha found herself asking to the empty room. "'Wait a week, or it'll look suspicious.' Don't know if I'll be sane for that much longer." she muttered, walking over to the screen attached to the centre mechanism of the TARDIS. She looked around her, thinking of the last moments she had spent in this room.

"_Did they see you?" he grabbed her shoulders urgently._

"_I don't know." she replied, not knowing what else to say._

"_But did they see you?!" he yelled._

"_I was too busy running!" She made the excuse easily because it was partly true._

"_Martha! It's important - did they see your face?"_

"_No, they couldn't have!" she decided, if only to make herself feel less guilty._

"_Off we go!" He pressed buttons and pulled levers in random orders. The screen in front of him beeped angrily. "They're following us!" _

"_How can they do that? You've got a time machine." she asked as he pressed buttons on the side of the screen._

"_Stolen technology. They've got a Time Agency vortex manipulator." He turned the screen towards him and ran a hand through his hair as he realised. "They can follow us wherever we go. Right across the universe. They're never going to stop."_

_She remembered crossing her arms, wanting to interrupt - wanting to ask him what he was going on about. "Unless - I'll have to do it. Martha, you trust me, don't you?" he asks her urgently._

"_Of course I do." she replied._

"_Because it all depends on you." She froze, terrified and confused. What was going on?_

"_What does? What am I supposed to do?" she asked._

"_Take this watch. 'Cause my life depends on it." he told her. She was confused, but what he said next threw her completely._

"_This watch, Martha. This watch…is me." he said, holding up a beautiful fob watch. What was that supposed to mean?_

"_Right, okay. Gotcha." she smiled, thinking it was some game he was playing. Then he rushed away though, and she remembered his worried look. She ran around to him. "No! Hold on - completely lost."_

_He didn't waste time teasing her - he was too serious. "Those creatures are hunters - they can sniff out anyone." he explained, and her eyes widen with fear. "And me being a Timelord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."_

_She gaped. "And the good news is?" she joked, trying to lighten the situation, but he continued to press buttons, pull levers, everything he did when he was trying hard not to think about something._

"_They can smell me, but they haven't seen me. And their lifespan are running out. So, we hide. Wait for them to die."_

"_But they can track us down." she told him, as he had told her seconds ago._

"_That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Timelord." She frowned with disbelief. How can that be possible? "I'm going to become human." She remembered his expression when he said that - he tried to seem fine about it, but she could see how much it scared him._

She walked around the console and looked up at the device. That device that had shocked her so much.

"_Never thought I'd use this." he had said, watching the machine as it lowered from the ceiling. "All the times I've wondered."_

"_What does it do?" she had asked quietly, standing back from it as if that was the monster, not the creatures following them through the vortex._

"_Chameleonarch." he had said, spitting venom with the word. "Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body." He had taken the watch and seen her terrified expression. "I've set it to human." _

"_Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Put it into life story for me, find a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you. You'll just have to improvise." She hadn't said anything, trying to focus on remembering what he had said. "I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in."_

"_But, hold on, if you're gonna rewrite every single cell…isn't it gonna hurt?" she asked, finally speaking up._

"_Oh yeah. It hurts." he had said. And it had done - she could remember it so vividly. She had watched him writhing in pain, standing back but wanting to dart forward and rip the machine off him._

His screams still echoed through the room when she let her mind wander - his cries filling her mind with his pain. She closed her eyes and tried to make the memory disappear.

_She flicks through the settings, picking the Earth theme just to be on the safe side. There are so many of them to choose from - ranging from 1913 to 30076. She picks one out, at random. She thinks it's one for the present day, but she's not sure. She wants to go back and choose another, not wanting to be around her family and friends when she has to watch out over for the Doctor, but it's too late. The one she picked is final. That's where the TARDIS is taking them - her and the man in a crumpled heap on the floor. She panics as the TARDIS jolts suddenly, and she's sure she pressed a bunch of buttons she shouldn't have, but she's too worried to care. She won't go near the Doctor until she has to. He had said "I'll be unconscious for about an hour after the change. Take me outside, wherever we end up. Just leave me outside the TARDIS; let me think I've fainted. I won't notice the TARDIS and I won't remember what's happened."_

_So that's what she had done. She had dragged his lifeless body outside, in the dead of the night, tears streaking down her face silently, and reluctantly left him outside as she retreated to her room. She hadn't returned to the console room for days. Every time she had done, all she could see was his inanimate body slumped on the ground; all she could hear were his yells, sounding throughout the room._

She pressed a few buttons randomly and a familiar face showed up on the screen.

"Is this working?" the image asked clearly, tapping on the screen. "Martha! Before I change, here's a list of instructions for when I'm human." She had remembered him recording them as she paced back and forth, wringing her hands, trying not to think of the task ahead of them.

"One," he began, and she listened intently. "Don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like." She smirked amusedly. "Two, don't worry about the TARDIS. I'll put it on emergency powers, so they can't detect it. Just let it hide away. Four, no - wait a minute - three, no getting involved in big historical events. Four, you. Don't let me abandon you. And five - very important, five - don't let me eat pears. I hate pears. John Smith is a character I made up, but I won't know that; I'll think I am him, and he might do something stupid like eat a -"

She sighed and fast-forwarded the tape.

"And twenty-three. If anything goes wrong, if they find us Martha, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe, in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it, so the human me won't think anything of it. To him, it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. 'Cause once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice." and with those words, he left everything up to her. She was about to turn the video off when he spoke again. "Oh, and…thank you." he said simply, and her heart fell as the screen return to the Gallifreyan symbols.

"I wish you'd come back."

* * *

Sorry if I bored you with all the stuff in the second part that's from the episode, but I thought it would be important to put it in. And now you all know the truth (if you hadn't guessed it already): that I have stolen the plot from Human Nature and Family of Blood, and merely twisted it so I can rewrite it for my own story.  
If you didn't catch it, the hint from chapter two was when Rose emptied John's suit pockets out. She found _"a piece of string, a number of pens, a key (he could have sworn that Rose shivered when she saw it), a few wires, **an old fob watch**, and the leather wallet." _Yup, it's that all important watch. It was also mentioned in chapter 1 as _"his fingers closed around a** small metal disk**."_

So, now that my 'surprise' is pretty much over, what do you think? The next chapter will be a lot more exciting and interesting, so stay tuned! Oh, and I promise this isn't going to be just another boring parody, with exactly the same storyline as the episode. For starters, Latimer isn't in it. And then we've got Rose's family, and Torchwood, and there's loads of other stuff to come. Review please!


	4. Not Quite A Simple Mission: Part 1

Disclaimer: If Doctor Who was mine, Martha would be 'inconveniently' killed off in the middle of SaJ, Rose would never have left, and David Tennant would be forced to play the Doctor for the rest of his life.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's so late to be put up, I just got a bit of writer's block. I'll try and be quicker with chapter 5. And sorry also for Martha haters, but chibi!Martha got mad and made me take her out of the TARDIS. She's now sulking at the bottom of my wardrobe, because I refused to give her more than two scenes. ;)

A few notes to my reviewers:  
-Dollybelle'olwhatserface: You won't find out about how they crossed over to Alt!Universe for a while, so be patient! And yes, Martha and Rose will meet. In this chapter, actually!  
-Lady Clark-Weasley: Well, in my opinion, Martha is a great character to hate (lol). I'm going to stay true to the canon unrequited-love theme, but as this is a Drose fic, it will obviously involve more Doctor/Rose shipping.  
-Tiamat100: Less questions, please! Lol. You'll have to read on for the answers, because I don't want to spoil anything! But I _can_ tell you that the pears thing was a deleted scene on the series 3 box set. You can find it on YouTube if you look in the right places!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Not Quite A Simple Mission (Part 1)**

John Smith looked around the flat calmly. He had no recollection of anywhere he'd lived before, but assumed that was just the amnesia-causing treatment for his illness. As Rose had said, he'd remember everything soon enough. Not owning any possessions - which he admittedly found rather strange - he walked around the bare flat, examining his new home. It was relatively small, and fairly empty, except for a few basic implements, such as the usual kitchen appliances, a bed, wardrobe and desk in the bedroom, a shower, sink and toilet in the bathroom, and a small television and sofa in the tiny lounge that joined to the kitchen. All items that he needed, of course, but they didn't make the flat feel much like a home.

He looked out of the window in the lounge to see his taxi driving away, and suddenly felt quite alone. He moved into his bedroom and took off his suit, hanging it in the otherwise empty wardrobe, and slid into bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, despite having been unconscious for almost the entire week, as it appeared to be.

- - - - - - -

A few blocks away, Rose Tyler was curled up in her bed at her parents' house - though she often referred to it as a mansion - just about to drift off to sleep. And then Jamie stumbled in, causing her to sit bolt upright in panic. When she saw who was at her door, she sighed with relief.

"What're you doing up this late?" she asked him, smiling.

"Couldn't sleep." he said simply, and walked towards her bed. He laughed softly and beckoned him over.

"Nightmares?" she asked, and he nodded. She picked him up and sat him on the bed in front of her.

"Monsters." he added, and she grinned.

"Oh yeah? What kinds of monsters?" she asked him as he moved further towards her and leant against the wall. Rose hugged him close to her and he wriggled about, getting comfortable.

"Clock monsters." he said. Rose frowned, though still smiling, and he continued. "They broke the clock. And they wear scary masks, and they tick." She froze and released him.

"What?" she asked quietly, the smile vanishing from her face. He nodded.

"They come from a spaceship. And there's a fireplace there." he said, seemingly proud at remembering the details, though the thought didn't seem to scare him anymore.

"Who told you that?" she asked, suddenly angry. "Was it Mickey, has he been talking to you?" She could feel Jamie trying to move away, but took hold of his wrist and looked him in the eyes. "Did Mickey tell you to say that? Jamie?"

"Let go!" he said, and she released his arm suddenly.

"Sorry, Jamie." she said, lowering her voice. He wriggled away and slid off the bed. "Jamie!" she called after him, but he was walking out of the door.

"I want mum!" he muttered, and Rose looked away as he slammed the door shut. She let her head fall down onto her pillow, but didn't fall asleep for hours.

- - - - - - -

Mickey Smith, a few rooms down the hall, woke with a start when he heard a door slam shut. He thought nothing of it and fell back asleep almost instantly.

- - - - - - -

Outside the Torchwood building sat the TARDIS, in which Martha Jones was pacing back and forth, not expecting to sleep at all tonight. She wrung her hands and repeated the words for a second time, thinking back to her checklist for the past week.

"The Doctor's human; staff files are uploaded; he's a field agent, I'm a secretary; he had a serious illness, I was on holiday; go into work, establish a relationship with him; give him his bag and explain what's going on, but not in detail; then watch him."

She sighed, changed the direction in which she was pacing, and continued talking to herself. "Files uploaded - done. Bag - done. Suit for tomorrow - done…Oh, but there's so much that could go wrong." She changed direction again and continues walking, thinking desperately for anything she could have forgotten.

- - - - - - -

Rose entered the building with Mickey, and almost stepped straight back out of the door. Among the workers lined up at the front desk was John Smith, waiting patiently in line with his identity card in hand.

"Thank you, sir." Martha said after checking the woman's ID and letting her through the gate into Torchwood. She spotted John a few places into the queue and looked away nervously.

'_It all depends on this moment.'_ she thought, as she checked another person's ID and let them through. '_The next three months depends only on this. He has to let you in. If he doesn't…don't think about that.'_

She felt her pulse beating faster and faster as John approached the desk, and put on a fake smile.

"Good morning, Mr Smith!" she said cheerily, begging for him to respond well. He smiled in return, and seemed to recognise her.

'_Thank God.'_ she breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered what she had to do.

"Nice to see you back at work!" she smiled.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" he replied, and Martha's face broke into a grin.

"I've got your bag behind the desk - just drop by at the end of the day and you can take it home." she told him as she took the psychic paper from his hand. Barely looking at it, she handed it back, thinking about her last words.

'_Was it too subtle? Not subtle enough? What if he doesn't realise what I'm talking about? What if he doesn't remember me?'_

"Thank you, Martha. I suppose I'll see you later, then." he said, smiling, and she almost laughed with relief.

"Have a nice day, sir." she said politely, as she let him through, and breathed out slowly when he had passed.

'_Couldn't have gone better.'_ she thought, and checked in another person. She glanced down the queue and saw how many people were waiting. _'But I've got to say - I don't know if I can stick to this job for three whole months.'_

Rose approached the girl at the desk, tapping her identity card on her hand impatiently. She glanced down the line - it was going to take her forever to get in. Mickey stood next to her, trying to ignore the tapping of the wallet on Rose's palm. When they finally got to the desk, Rose breathed a short sigh of relief.

"Right then, here we go, at last." she smiled to the woman, handing over her card. She couldn't help but notice that she was dark skinned, and had dark hair, just like this 'Martha Jones', but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried not to think about it. The woman smiled back and took the card.

"Tell me about it." she said in a friendly way. "Are there always this many people?" she asked, then immediately regretted it.

"How d'you mean? Don't you work here?" Rose asked, frowning. Martha cursed herself silently.

"Yeah." she said, faking a smile. "Been on holiday for a while though - it seems like I've been away forever."

"Yeah, well it's all because of that attack a few weeks back. Security's gone wild." Rose seemed to buy Martha's story, and Martha smiled with relief. She handed back the ID card, but just before she did, she noticed the name at the top. Rose Tyler. She choked on her breath and looked back up at Rose.

"You alright?" she asked, concernedly, and Martha nodded frantically,

"Mm-hm." she mumbled, letting go of the card. "Just go on through." she ushered Rose through, and took Mickey's card. After Mickey was through the gate, they both turned round the corner and walked out of sight. Martha closed her eyes for a second - that name…Rose. Just like the Doctor's Rose. She shook the thought away.

'_Don't be stupid.'_ she told herself. _'She's dead. Or something. Who knows? Anyway, I can't get all jumpy every time someone called Rose walks by. Then again…a Rose Tyler working at Torchwood?'_ She paused, considering, and glanced down at the next person's identity card. _'No. Just a coincidence, that's all.' _She let the man through and moved onto the woman standing behind him.

'"_Rose, her name was. Rose. And…we were together." he had said, and she had felt her mind wondering what 'together' meant._

"_And where is she now?" she had asked him._

"_With her family - happy. She's fine. She's…Not that your replacing her." He had pointed a finger in her direction and she had found herself lost for words, just for a second.'_

She blinked back tears, the memory of the Doctor forcing her to remember the task ahead.

"You all right?" the lady next to her asked, and she turned abruptly, almost dropping the woman's ID.

"Oh, yeah, just…hay fever." she excused herself. _'Hay fever? It's autumn!'_ she thought to herself, but the woman smiled friendlily. "I'm Martha." said Martha, thinking that if she was going to be here for three months, she might as well make some friends.

"Suzie." she replied, and smiled. Martha smiled back, thinking that maybe this job wouldn't be too bad, after all.

- - - - - - -

When people said 'Rose's office' or 'Mickey's office' at Torchwood, they usually meant the huge, white room that Rose and Mickey used to plan their assignments and explorations - and occasionally do some paperwork. It was on the floor below the highest level, but no one ever went up to the top - it had been forbidden when Pete Tyler took over as boss. Everyone knew it was out of bounds from their first day, which was why Rose was stunned to see John Smith heading up there when he claimed to have worked there for years.

"'Scuse me?" she asked up the stairs, and he turned around and looked down at her.

"Hello." he replied, waving, and she walked up a few steps.

"You're not allowed up there." she said, and he walked down to meet her.

"Really? Since when?" he asked, frowning.

"Since forever. Ever since the new Torchwood. It's out of bounds. Surely you remember that?"

"Nope." he followed her back down the stairs. "I still can't remember a thing about working here. Not a name, or face, or anything. Why is it out of bounds?"

Rose swallowed nervously. "It just…is. What were you doing up there anyway?"

"Like I said before - no sense of direction. Got lost. I just came from Medical and someone said my new office was up here."

"What were you doing in Medical?" she asked, as he walked down the stairs to meet her.

"Well, since I haven't worked here for so long, I had to have a few check-ups." he said as he walked. "You know, medical, ability to hold a gun, that kind of thing."

Rose smiled. "Well, yeah, the office is on this floor." Rose told him as they reached the next level down. "Just through here."

She led him into the room in silence.

"Oh, right. It doesn't look much like an office." he said bluntly, and Rose tried to smile.

"No, I don't suppose it does. I've always hated offices. Too cramped. So Mr Tyler gave this room to me and Mickey. It's got everything we need - computers, space, desks." Rose walked round the room lazily, pointing at random objects.

"Right. So, this is my temporary office, then?" he asked, and Rose nodded. "It's a bit…well, big. For just three people."

Rose frowned. "Speaking of which, where _is_ Mickey?"

There was an awkward silence as the two stood opposite each other.

"So, what's in that room?" he asked suddenly. "At the top, what's up there?"

Rose breathed in and out slowly. "Nothing. Not any more. Something happened here, a while back. Five years ago, it was. And the room's been locked ever since."

"But…something tells me you have a key?" he said, and Rose stiffened, snapping her eyes up to meet John's.

"What did you say?" she asked quietly, but before he could reply, the door burst open and Mickey walked in.

"Hey." he said calmly, and Rose looked away from John.

"Where've you been?" she asked Mickey, who was laying down a rolled up piece of paper on the huge desk in front of her.

"Talking to Pete - Mr Tyler, I mean." he added, for John's sake. "Haven't called him that for years. Anyway, we've got a mission."

Rose walked over to Mickey's side of the table, and John walked forwards to it as well. They all looked at the blueprint that Mickey was unfurling.

"What is it?" Rose asked, placing paper weights on each corner of the map to hold it down.

"Warehouse. Or factory, or something. Anyway, we're not going there. But this is where the guys we're hunting down've parked their spaceship. At least, we think so. The readings for alien tech showed all the signs of a landing site."

"So what's the problem?" Rose asked frowning.

"Whatever it is they parked here - it's invisible. We've got another team scouting the place for answers, but we're headed to the fields." He pointed to one side of the map, clearly where the fields were. "We think they might've left whatever's in the factory and gone to find the life forms. Which is us. But chances are, they're invisible too."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" John asked, speaking for the first time.

"We've got scanners. They might be invisible, but whatever they are, they give off massive amounts of energy. We can roughly locate them using the scanners and try to find out who and what they are."

"Roughly?" John asked sceptically, and for a moment, Rose had to remind herself that he was John Smith, and that he only looked like the Doctor, no matter how much he sounded like him too. "How roughly?"

"Well, we can't pinpoint their actual position, but we can tell whether they're within a twenty metre range from us."

"So, we search the fields for them, find them, then what?" asked John.

"See if we can reason with them. You know, general procedure. Find out who they are, what they want, that kind of thing."

"When are we leaving?" Rose asked, trying not to think about John, who was standing very close behind her, bending over to examine the blueprint.

"Thirty minutes. Just enough time to get down to Weapons and Defence." Mickey said, and walked away from the desk towards the door.

"Any idea on the weapons _they_'re using?" Rose asked, eyebrows raised.

"We think they're lasers; definitely not bullets." Mickey said, and left the room.

"Right then, John." Rose turned to look at him. "You haven't had the tour since your…illness, have you? Follow me." She walked out of the door and headed down the stairs with John close behind, glancing up at the forbidden level as they went.

- - - - - - -

"So, this," Rose gestured to the level. "Is Weaponry. You'll need weapons for any mission. This is where you get the right ones. Just tell 'em what your up against and they'll sort you out with the right sort. Firing range is down there too."

She gestured for John to wait outside, pushed open the door, and walked in calmly. John peeked through the window in the door and saw a number of different types of guns, hanging on the walls. He saw Rose talk to a few workers, and she soon emerged with arms full of weapons. She indicated to each of them and passed some to John.

"Standard Laser guns, just in case; 51st Century Sonic Blasters, good for escapes; and your basic bullet guns, required for every mission." She handed him one of each, and he copied her as she slipped the two guns in her belt and slipped the Blaster in her pocket.

They went down another flight of stairs to the third floor, though John had been walking down so many that he could have sworn they were deep underground.

"And this floor's Defence. Here, we get protective clothing, shielding, radars, scanners - that kind of thing." She walked into this room and John held open the door, peering in after her. The room reminded him of a combat training camp, with camouflage suits and protective clothing hanging all over the walls and ceiling. Again, Rose walked over to a man behind a desk and was given handfuls of gadgets, which she left the room with, smiling.

"Right, so I've got us scanners for the aliens, laser-resistant suits, and best of all, energy-vision goggles." She grinned as she gave John the gadgets, and he smiled back.

"What-vision goggles?" he asked disbelievingly, raising the goggles to his eyes.

"Energy-vision." she grinned. "It's like night-vision, but rather than letting you see in the dark, they let you see an object's radiation output." She put her scanner in her rucksack, as did John with the temporary bag he'd gotten from the Resources floor, and clipped the goggles to her belt. John did the same, and they both put their protective suits in Rose's bag, since John's wasn't big enough for his.

"And that's basically it." she finished, glancing at her watch. "We'd better be off. I think we're meeting Mickey down at Reception."

- - - - - - -

The three explorers bounded out of the big van and raised a hand of thanks to their driver, before setting off across the field. Mickey held the scanner at arms length, occasionally waving it around; Rose fiddled with her belt, checking that she had all her equipment; and John tagged along just behind them, looking around anxiously for signs of invisible aliens.

"Right then." Rose said firmly, stopping to turn and face Mickey and John. "They can't have gone far, and I don't see why they'd want to, so we should probably just spread out and do a routine search."

She looked around at the deserted field, the wind whipping back her hair, and then turned back to Mickey and John. John looked like he had no idea what was going on, and Rose almost laughed out loud "Right, Mickey, you take that village - ask around for any reports on strange occurrences. John, you come with me, and I'll fill you in on how these things work." Mickey nodded in confirmation, and John bent down, dropping his bag on the grass to search for his scanner. Mickey took Rose's arm and pulled her to one side.

"You sure you're okay with this?" he whispered. "D'you want me to go with John?"

"Mickey, it's not him." Rose insisted, snatching her arm back. "I don't know what's going on, but it's been five years since the Doctor…left. And I'm fine with John, whoever he is." Mickey held his hands up to show he had surrendered, and meandered off across the field towards the village. Rose waited for John to stand back up, then forced a smile and led the way across the fields.

Rose and John wandered around the area for hours, occasionally picking something up on the sensors and whipping out their energy-goggles, only to find the energy to be coming from random devices scattered across the fields, or in nearby homes and buildings.

"This is hopeless." Rose sighed, after the third hour. "We've found nothing, and we haven't heard anything from Mickey."

John didn't reply. He was frowning at the sensor that Rose was stood in front of, staring at the readings with confusion.

"What?" she asked him, then glanced at the readings. "Oh, that'll just be the equipment. You know, phone, goggles, scanner, all that stuff."

"No, but look." he said, still frowning, and passed the device to Rose. As Rose took it, it began to beep angrily.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, holding it away from her body. "What the hell's that about?"

"It's…you." he stated simply, but she shook her head.

"It can't be! What've I got that you haven't? It must just mean that I'm closer to it than you. Whatever 'it' is." she waved the device around impatiently, and it continued to beep at her loudly. Then it grew louder, and more constant, and Rose and John shared uneasy looks.

"And what does _that_ mean?" John asked in a whisper, though he wasn't sure why.

"It means…Well, I _think_ it means that…it's behind me. And…it's getting closer." She froze, swallowed the lump at the back of her throat, and turned around, at the same time as John looked over her shoulder, and he released a breath calmly when he saw the empty field.

"Thank goodness for that." he sighed, but Rose still stood rooted to the spot. "Rose?" he asked her, tugging on her sleeve.

"John." she replied quietly, and John had to lean forwards to hear, the wind carrying the sound away. "They're invisible."

His eyes widened as he heard the persistent beeping grow louder, and faster, and more angry with each sound. He couldn't see them, but he knew they were around somewhere - a faint buzzing sound could be heard, forcing out against the wind, like the distant vibration of wings. He tried to pull Rose away, but as they jogged backwards away from the invisible creature, the beeping of the device just grew louder.

They both turned around in circles, quickly and timidly, sensing and hearing the creatures all around them, though they had no idea how many there were. Rose instinctively reached down and grabbed John's hand, her hand fitting as exactly as it had with the Doctor's. She gulped, trying not to think about their almost certain fate. John didn't pull away, and Rose stepped nearer to him, closing in the only spaces and letting the wind blow around them as one. They were trapped.

* * *

Eek! Cliffie! Anyway, hope you liked it! Chibi!Martha has stopped sulking now, so chances are I'll be forced to write her into the next chapter too. Sorry. ;)  
(And sorry to by best friend Braceface Freak - that thing I hinted to you about is _next_ chapter. You know how hopeless I am.)

Please review, or I'll set my chibi!Army after you! (Not that I have a chibi!Army. :whistles innocently:)


	5. Not Quite A Simple Mission: Part 2

Disclaimer: Yes. I own everything. Doctor Who, Billie, David - the lot. And if you believed that, I may have to consider doing whatever I can to make it come true.

Okay, so here's the second part, as I didn't want to leave you in suspense. It might take me a while to put up chapter 6 though, because I want it to be just right.

A few notes to my reviewers:  
-Dollybelle'olwhatserface: :says nothing: lol. The explanation for Jamie knowing about the Clockwork monsters comes later, don't worry. And as for Suzie being Suzie Costello...I'll leave that to you. For now.  
-TVnut89: Nope, not living shadows.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Not Quite A Simple Mission (Part 2)**

John and Rose circled each other with their hands clasped, eyeing the air around them and trying to work out where the biggest danger was coming from. Buzzing sounds seemed to swarm around them in every direction. John felt Rose reach for her energy-vision goggles with her free hand and he did the same. She slipped hers on first and shrieked, and he rushed to force his own onto his nose urgently. Dots of colour swarmed in front of his eyes, and as he tried to become accustomed to the new way of seeing, he heard a zapping sound from behind him and realised that Rose must have pulled out her laser gun and started to shoot.

He worked out how the goggles showed things: red spots for beings with high energy and blue spots for beings with low energy. He kept that thought in his mind as he pulled out his own laser gun and waved it around in search for the right place to shoot. His hand wavered with worry, and he shot at the air fearfully, missing everything he was aiming at. The invisible creatures began to attack - he felt laser beams ripping through his clothes and bearing into his protective layer, some scathing his arms and face. His hands were sweating with fear, but Rose didn't let go, and as he thought of her, a new found strength surged through him. He raised the gun to eye-level, aimed it at a swarm of red dots shown on the goggles, took a deep breath, and was about to pull the trigger when he heard Rose screaming behind him.

He turned suddenly, his gun falling to the floor, and he saw Rose's knees buckling underneath her. He caught her she fell to the ground, his gun lying on the grass, forgotten. He saw lasers flying overhead and tried to duck, but he realised that they weren't aiming for him.

"The rock!" Mickey yelled above the noise of the lasers and the wind, shooting frantically at the invisible creatures. "Get her behind the rock!"

John looked around helplessly and felt a laser beam dig into his ankle. He screamed in anguish but was sure he felt Rose squeeze his hand, and he glanced around over the field urgently, removing his goggles and throwing them to the floor with his laser gun. He saw a huge rock to his right, big enough to shelter both him and Rose, and pulled her arm around his shoulders. With tears of pain and fear threatening to fall from his eyes, he pulled himself up, bringing Rose with him, and began to drag her towards the rock. As he pulled her around to face himself, he saw her tearstained face, covered in blood and mud, and moved faster towards the rock. He heard Mickey shooting at the air, and heard the creatures shooting back, but tried to shut out the noises and his pain, and focused all his energy on getting Rose to safety.

He reached the rock just in time, and as his ankle gave way, he pulled Rose towards himself and the rock with a pained yell. He could still hear the shooting, but didn't dare look around the rock for fear of being seen. He brushed Rose's matted hair out of her face and tapped her cheeks gently.

"Rose?" he whispered, urging her to give some sign of life. She didn't move, and he felt a mixture of blood and tears fall down his face. "Please, Rose. I don't know what to do. What do I do, Rose?"

His hands shook as he cradled her body, praying for the shots to cease. But then instinct cut in, and he knew what he had to do. Protect Rose Tyler. This girl that he'd known for mere days, but felt closer to her than to anyone else. He must protect her.

He freed his hand from Rose's and searched frantically for her pulse on her wrist. He found one and laughed with relief, but didn't know what to do next. He lowered her body to the floor, the wind causing her hair to obscure her face, and he titled her head back and leant down by her head to see if she was breathing. Whether it was because of the wind blowing all around them, he didn't know, but he couldn't feel her breath on his cheek.

He became aware of the still sounding guns behind the rock, and decided he had something else to do. He reached down to his belt for his goggles, but couldn't find them, and realised with a stab of fury that they were lying metres away in the grass. He forced himself up, ignoring the pain searing through his ankle, and glanced over the top of the rock. He could see Mickey distantly, shooting laser beams at what looked to John like thin air, and he urged to find a way to help, but didn't know how. He watched as laser beams appeared in the air and flew at Mickey, who barely dodged them. Some tore at his clothes and some burnt through his skin, and John knew he couldn't just stand by and watch.

He drew his shotgun from his belt, though not knowing what good it would do, and he aimed it at where he had seen a laser beam appear. Trying to breathe steadily and ignoring the pain in his foot, he pulled the trigger and thought he heard a shriek of pain as the bullet leapt from the gun. He hoped he had hit one of the creatures, and looked across the field for anymore appearing lasers. But before he could locate another one, and saw beams coming from all directions, aiming straight for Mickey, and there was a flash of green light as they all hit him at the same time.

John felt his heart beating firmly at his chest, but it was too late to help. Mickey fell to the ground with a thud and John's ankle gave way. He lowered himself to the grass with his clothes ripping on the coarse rock, disbelief invading his mind.

He sat in silence for a few seconds, not knowing what to do next, and then his eyes focused on Rose, lying on the ground in front of him. The winds had died down slightly, as if the death of Mickey had calmed them, and John leant down to Rose's cheek for a second time, titled her head back, and pleaded for her to breathe. This time, however, he was sure she wasn't breathing, and he breathed out slowly, fearfully, as he sat back up straight.

Forgetting all about the creatures that were surely still metres away behind the rock, he linked the fingers of both his hands and found what he assumed was the right place on Rose's ribcage. Breathing in and out deeply, he pushed down on her body firmly. He repeated the action over and over again, tears of helplessness falling from his eyes, then stopped. He brushed the hair out of her face with shaking hands and titled her head back gently. His mouth lowered around hers and he breathed out, willing her to come around. He sat back up for a second, then when she didn't respond, he did the same.

He felt a surge of emotions run through him when she didn't breathe after the second rescue breath, and began the cycle again. And then he did it again, and again, and again, until he thought he'd pass out from his lack of strength. He began the act for a sixth time, and after the first rescue breath, he thought he'd done it. He gave another rescue breath that was filled with hope, and when he leant back away, she came gasping back to life and clutched his sleeve anxiously. He choked on his breath with relief as she pulled herself upright.

"Doctor?" she asked him when she saw his face. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"

John laughed with relief, though he knew it was inappropriate. "No, it's me Rose. It's John! You're fine; you're okay. We're both okay!"

Rose's face fell as he said his name, and if John hadn't been so preoccupied, he would have wondered why. But then his thoughts settled on Mickey, and his face fell too.

"Doc- John?" she corrected herself, brushing her hair away as she sat up, though the wind just blew it back over her face. "What is it?"

He looked at her sadly. "Can you walk?" he asked her quietly, and she nodded.

"I think so. What happened? I remember getting shot. There were so many of them…" She trailed off as the memory returned to her.

"I think they've gone." John told her, trying to reassure himself more than anything else. He almost smiled as the relief spread across Rose's face and colour went back into her cheeks.

"I heard Mickey." she added suddenly. "Where is he? Has he gone for help?" Her upbeat tone of voice made John cringe.

"Rose…I'm so sorry." he said quietly, and pulled himself on onto his feet, using the rock to balance himself. He recoiled as they pain from his ankle seared through his leg, but forced himself to stand. Moments later, he felt Rose tugging on his jacket to help herself up, still weak from collapsing. She looked over the top of the rock and her entire face fell.

With not a thought to her own safety, she stumbled out from behind the rock and rushed over to Mickey, ignoring the tiredness rushing through her body. John tried to follow, but as soon as he put pressure on his ankle, he fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Rose didn't look back to him, but ran as fast as her still recovering body would let her go, and by the time John had dragged himself over to her, she was sitting on the grass, leaning over Mickey's body. He went to put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, but then let it drop to his side as he heard her sobbing. She held her head in her hands and cried into them mercilessly, and John found himself crying silently along with her. He sat with her as she cried, and thought back over the past few hours, wondering what he'd done wrong.

- - - - - - -

It was a few hours before they got back to Torchwood. John called for transport to take himself, Rose, and Mickey's body back, and Rose's stayed by Mickey's side for the entire journey. She didn't speak for the duration of the journey, just stayed by Mickey in the ambulance as it took them back to Torchwood. John wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what to say, so he settled for staring out of the window and leaving her to grieve alone.

When they finally arrived at the Torchwood building, despair seemed to follow them throughout the place, spreading over the building like a disease. All the happy faces turned to stone, solemn and serious, and John and Rose walked slowly through the halls as if dreading every step. They passed Martha at reception, who attempted a weak smile, but John didn't have the strength to return one.

John followed Rose up to Mr Tyler's office, as she bit back tears and tried to be strong in front of her colleagues. Pete was waiting anxiously, pacing back and forth and fiddling with his fingers. He looked up as the door was thrust open by Rose, who ran forward and flung her arms around her father's neck, her sobs echoing out through the room. John stood in the corner awkwardly as Pete tried to calm his daughter, trying to avoid the gaze of someone who might make him feel more guilty.

When Rose and Pete broke apart, it was only because the doors had been pushed open again, and an older blonder woman had rushed through. She looked so similar to Rose that John wasn't surprised when Rose let her father go and clung to this woman instead, crying into her shoulder with undying sorrow. Pete wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and looked up at John, who stared back at him with no expression.

"You!" he heard someone shriek, and he turned his head, wide-eyed, to the woman with Rose, who she had now released and was staring at John accusingly, with slight smudges of mascara running down her face. Rose took her arms and the woman turned to look at her disbelievingly.

"Mum…I-It's not…" she began, her voice quivering, and she didn't seem to need to finish the sentence. She released her mother's arms, and watched as she walked over to John.

"But…" she started, reaching up as if to touch her face. John's eyes widened with alarm, but then she lowered her hand and held it out for John to shake. "Jackie Tyler." she offered quietly, though John could hear the sadness in her voice, and he took her hand. "I'm Rose's mother."

John nodded politely. "John Smith." he replied, trying not to let too much emotion escape in his voice. She looked up at his face for a moment, as if trying to fit a puzzle together in her mind, then abruptly turned around and walked back to Rose.

"It's okay, darling." he could hear her saying, her London accent coming out strongly. She rubbed Rose's back as she embraced her daughter. "It's okay."

Pete caught John's eyes briefly but he turned away almost instantly, avoiding his gaze. John urged to ask what it was about him that turned this family mad, but knew he couldn't. So he stood in silence, looking down at the floor, as he heard Rose's cried sound throughout the room, and Jackie's soothing words trying to take away the sorrow.

- - - - - - -

Rose breathed in and out slowly as she walked towards the desk. Jackie walked by her side, guiding her towards the door, and they both held their heads high, avoiding the gazes of their colleagues.

"I'll make you a nice cuppa tea." Jackie was saying quietly, clasping Rose's hand protectively. "Soon as we get home. And you can stay home tomorrow, if you like."

Rose nodded, her lip quivering, but then Jackie stopped and let go of Rose's hand.

"I just need to talk to Marie." she said apologetically. "It's about the Transfer folder. You go wait in the car."

She watched Rose walk slowly towards the door and headed over to a group of women standing in the corner of the room. Rose continued walking towards the exit, but then saw the woman at the Reception desk out of the corner of her eye. Wasn't she talking to John earlier? He seemed to know her. And she was sure someone just said "Martha".

She turned, not fully aware of her actions, and walked over to the desk. The woman noticed her and seemed to panic, but gathered herself and smiled at Rose.

"Who are you?" she asked, ignoring her rudeness.

"I'm Martha Jones, Miss." she replied kindly, remembering her position. "Uh, sorry…about your friend." she added unsurely.

"You know John?" replied Rose, but it was more of a statement than a question. "John Smith, you're friends."

Martha swallowed, unsure of what to say. "We're…friends, yes."

Rose paused, feeling disoriented as the events of that day clouded her mind. "He said…you were with him when he fainted." she blurted out, the information randomly coming to her head.

"Um…no. No, not when he fainted. The day before." Martha invented, hoping it would pass for an excuse.

"You…know him." Rose said blankly, unsure of what she was saying, and Martha's eyes narrowed.

"Yes…" she said slowly. "Yes, I said we're friends. Are you okay, Miss?"

"He's not the Doctor." she slurred, blinking furiously. Martha's eyes snapped up to meet Rose's.

"What did you say?" she stammered unsurely. Had she heard right?

"He's…he's…" Rose trailed off and turned around, heading for the door. Martha began to get up, intending to follow Rose, but Jackie zoomed after her daughter worriedly, shooting a disgusted glance at Martha. She reddened and sank back into her chair as she heard Jackie asking Rose "Forget her, whatever she said. She's only a temp." with distaste.

Suzie chuckled at Martha's flushing face.

"Forget it, Marth." she said, smiling. "That's the infamous Jackie Tyler. Reckons she's the Queen Bee around here, since she's the boss's wife."

Martha smiled back weakly in return, her eyes following Rose as she stumbled out the door with her mother. "Mind you, that daughter of hers isn't half strange. Thinks she's from some other universe. 'Course, her parents aren't denying it, so I reckon it's the lot of 'em. Crazy, they are."

"How long have they been working here?" asked Martha, her attention turning to Suzie, who now leant forwards as if sharing good gossip.

"Well, see that's the thing. They just appeared, out of the blue, five years ago. One minute, it was just Torchwood, with Mr Tyler on his own, then this wife and daughter of his appeared out of nowhere! They're nutters, both of 'em. And now this John Smith's appeared…there's something weird going on." Martha avoided her gaze and she turned back to her work with a non-committal shrug.

- - - - - - -

Suzie walked down the pavement humming contentedly to herself, holding her jacket around her body tightly in an attempt to stay warm in the evening breeze. With the exception of that Mickey-something being killed in that attack, she considered the day to have gone rather smoothly. Looking forward to the hot meal that was sure to be waiting for her when she returned home, she quickened her pace, but stopped abruptly when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see what looked like a shop window dummy staggering towards her. She recoiled and frowned with distaste. Squinting in the dim light of the street lamps, she frowned more as it approached her.

"Who's that then?" she asked loudly, her mouth twisting into a slight smile. "Come on, who is it?"

She backed away slightly, her smile fading. "Now then, that's enough."

The figure continued to approach, but still didn't answer. As it came into view of the streetlamp, Suzie saw that it was definitely a mannequin, and dressed in a tennis outfit, of all things. Her eyes widened and she paused for a moment to stare at it, searching for some kind of explanation.

"How're you doing that?" she asked quietly, backing away as it speeded up towards her. She stumbled back along the pavement and her back came into contact with something moving. She shrieked and turned around - it was another mannequin.

"Just- Just stop it, now!" she cried, adrenalin and fear pumping through her veins. "Whoever you are, just stop it!" She tried to push past the figure, but it's inhuman strength pushed her back. Another dummy came towards her from the left and the one approaching her from behind kept moving in.

"Oh my…" She tried to struggle, flailing out with her arms and kicking wildly with her legs, but the creatures grabbed her wrists and dragged her away. "Help me!" she screeched through the night sky. "Oh my God, somebody help me!"

She was pulled along roughly, and lost her footing in the rush. Her ankles dragged along the coarse ground, the skin ripping off as her captors hauled her along impatiently, never speaking, never stopping. And then she blacked out.

* * *

To be fair, it's not a cliffhanger. Not really. Well...  
Okay, it's kind of a cliffhanger. But it's not _that_ evil.

Sorry about Mickey! I didn't mean for it to happen, but it's important to the plot development. :) You'll see. Reviews are Squeeness For Stories!


	6. Not Quite The Ordinary

Disclaimer: Do I have to repeat it? Really?

Here's chapter 6 - hope you enjoy! It's not very action-packed, but it's quite important, so you shall just have to suffer through it. :P By the way, we skip three days, lol. I'm going to leave it up to your imagination to decide who did what in that time.  
Yep, I know, this fic is going to get completely jossed tomrrow/tonight when The Stolen Earth is shown, but I'm going to keep writing it anyway, because I doubt the reunion we get will be as shippy as we'd like.  
Sorry if the spelling/grammar isn't perfect, but it's just gone 2am and I really must get some sleep, so no time to proof read it as many times as I usually do; but I'm going away on Sunday and wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

A few notes to my reviewers:  
-Dollybelle'olwhatserface: The Suzie Costello thing becomes clear in this chapter, since I know you were wondering about it earlier. Also, a little hint - they're not Autons. There's a BIG clue for what they are in this chapter, but if you still don't know, keep guessing!  
-And thank-you to all my other reviewers! Really, I love them all - keep them coming!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Not Quite The Ordinary**

"Where am I?" Suzie's voice quivered with fear as she woke up, finding herself surrounded by futuristic green lights in a dark, cramped area. She glanced around at the room nervously. A voice erupted from all around her and she started.

"You are with us." it said calmly.

"W-Who are you?" she whimpered, backing up to the wall she had been leaning against.

She heard a faint laughter and her breathing grew uneven. "Why can't I see you?" she asked loudly.

"Oh, you will." the voice said sinisterly. "Soon, we will look so very familiar."

Suzie gulped, looking all around her. A strong green light appeared all around her, and he heard a quiet buzzing sound fill the room. She screamed as the shimmering particles of light grew nearer, knowing there was nothing she could do.

- - - - - - -

**Three days later**

Rose managed to hold in her tears for the extent of the journey, but the sight of the desolate graveyard was just too much. Salty drops of water trickled steadily down her face as she walked slowly along the grass, in the suitably dripping rain. Her hand was clasped suddenly by Jackie, but she didn't look round. She focused on the spot she was walking to - the large wooden coffin lying on the grass. Her vision blurred with the tears, and the next thing she knew, she was standing around it with a number of other people.

She heard the vicar wishing Mickey well in 'the next life'. She felt Jackie clasp her clammy hand, trying to give her strength. She heard Kate sobbing uncontrollably next to her. She saw the coffin being lowered into the ground. Not bothering to bite back the bitter tears as they snaked down her face, Rose stared at the wooden box as it disappeared into the ground. Then people started moving away, and soon only herself, Jackie, Pete and Kate were crowded around the buried coffin.

Pete approached Jackie and Rose, prising Jackie's hands out of Rose's and pulling hr away. Then it was just Rose and Kate. Mickey's two closest friends, united in pain for his death.

Kate was muttering under her breath about "words left unsaid", and Rose found herself thinking back to that day, so very long ago, when she had stood on a beach in Norway and watched the love of life vanish before her eyes. She shook her head frustratedly, willing the image of the Doctor away, and glanced up to the sky, just to give herself something to concentrate on other than Mickey's death. She heard Kate walked away slowly, sobbing into her hands, and felt suddenly the most alone she had done in five years. Turning her head down to look at the dark brown soil, she felt another wave of tears overcome her, and she sank down to the floor, burying her head in her hands.

Jackie watched her daughter from afar, wanting to run up to her and tell her everything would be okay. But Pete held her firmly, telling her that Rose needed time, and she hadn't the energy to break free. So she watched in silence as Rose dropped to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest like a little girl, lost in a storm. Then, not caring what Pete thought, she pulled away from Pete and ran towards her child, wrapping her arms around Rose tightly, and letting the fierce winds encase them in a zone of despair.

How long they sat there, neither of them knew, but after a while, Pete came and sat with them, and they all clasped hands tightly, as if that would take away the pain. But then Pete led Jackie away and a new figure appeared by Rose.

John sat down gingerly on the damp grass and linked his hands loosely around his raised knees. Rose wiped her eyes, though she knew they'd be brimming with tears again soon, and looked straight ahead at the patch of soil covered in flowers that was hiding Mickey's coffin like an ill-kept secret.

"I'm sorry." she heard from the right, and she turned to look at John solemnly.

"Yeah." she murmured back bitterly, watching John as his eyes filled with tears.

"He'd never cry." she whispered to herself, the wind carrying away the sound eerily. A fresh wave of tears blurred her vision, but when things became focused again, John had moved closer, and was definitely crying.

Neither of the two said anything for a while, and Rose turned back to look at the bright, happy colours of the flowers on the grave, almost detesting them for making death look so cheerful.

"He saved us." John said abruptly, and Rose felt more tears flood down her cheeks.

"I know." she said quietly.

"No, but really." John insisted, sensing that Rose was just agreeing for the sake of it. "I didn't have a clue. You were out cold, and then he came along and starting shooting at those…things -" he broke off, his voice catching in his throat. "He told me what to do, and just went on fighting, even when he didn't have a chance." John heard a quiet sob from Rose as she listened intently. "He died a hero." he finished sadly, and turned to Rose, who looked back at him with teary eyes.

"He saved your life." added John, and Rose hiccuped quietly, her breath uneven for all her crying.

"So did you." Rose replied after a pause. "You were…" Rose was about to say fantastic, but saying that word to John just didn't seem right. "…good." she finished lamely, looking back at Mickey's burial place. "You were good." she repeated quietly, more to herself than to John.

- - - - - - -

Rose and John were still sat at the graveyard almost an hour later, occasionally exchanging glances or a few words about the weather, or something just as mundane.

"I had a dream last night." John started suddenly, and Rose turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" she said uninterestedly, and he nodded.

"Yeah. Strange thing was…you were there." he finished softly, still looking ahead as if avoiding Rose's eyes. Rose's eyes shot up to his, but he ignored her response. "I've been having them for a while now. Weird dreams, about…planets, burning. And last night, you…appeared."

Rose swallowed, confused, but John continued to avoid her gaze. "It was you, and…I think it was me. It felt like it was me, but it was like, I looked a bit…different."

Rose bit her lip, trying to figure out what all of this meant, but John clearly hadn't finished. "And there was something to do with, uh, aliens. Living plastic, or something. I was this…traveller. 'The Doctor', I was called. And I saved the day, as it was." he smiled slightly in remembrance of the dream, but it faded as he continued to look at the grave. "Doesn't quite work out that way in reality, does it?"

Rose didn't reply. She could remember the day as if it was yesterday: the first day she met the Doctor. She had helped him saved the world, then left her own life, to travel with him, in the blink of an eye.

After a while, John stood up, muttered something to Rose, and left. Rose stayed sat on the grass, a million thoughts in her head about John, Mickey, and Torchwood, until she couldn't look at Mickey's grave any longer.

She stood up and gave Mickey's resting place one last look before she turned away, and she immediately saw Jackie waiting for her, just outside the graveyard. Rose walked towards her mother, and they both trudged silently towards the Torchwood car waiting for them down the road.

"I wanna go back to work." Rose said suddenly, and Jackie looked up at her, both of them still walking down a steep hill to the car at the bottom.

"But…" began Jackie, but Rose shook her head in protest.

"I need to do this, mum." she protested, her voice quivering. "Just for tomorrow. If it's too hard, I'll come back home. But I can't stay away from it forever."

Jackie didn't speak, she just nodded understandingly as the two reached the foot of the hill and stepped into the car.

- - - - - - -

Martha walked slowly out of the TARDIS and into the dark forest, glad that the machine had moved itself to a new location, away from the busy and loud Torchwood tower. She started the journey out of the forest, heading towards the newsagents on her way to work. As she walked along in the early hours of the morning, she glanced around absent-mindedly, trying to think of anything but Torchwood and the Doctor. But everything she thought of led back to the Doctor in some way.

She thought of her family, and wondered how they were - but that led to thinking about how she'd left them, and how the Doctor had shown her real life, not the life she used to have. She gazed around at the streets and roads, wondering if she was likely to meet anyone she knew over the next few months. Then she looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise and disbelief.

"Zeppelins?" she whispered to herself, narrowing her eyes confusedly. "How did I not notice them before?" She kept glancing at the zeppelin-filled sky for the entire walk to the newsagents, only tearing her eyes away to walk into the shop.

She gaped at the shopkeeper for a second, before realising what she was doing and closing her mouth quickly.

"Sorry." she muttered, but the newsagent didn't seem to notice. She stared at Martha expectantly. "Uh, just a paper, thanks." said Martha, placing a newspaper on the counter. The woman scanned it in and Martha handed over the money, smiling gratefully as she left.

Not bothering to look down at the paper she had just brought, she folded it up and stuffed it in her jacket, then returned her attention to the skies, where huge zeppelins were soaring up above. She watched them for a few minutes as she walked back to the TARDIS, but soon forgot about them once she was back in the woods, the cover of the treetops obscurring them from view.

"Hello." she whispered affectionately, touching the exterior of the TARDIS gently. She pulled out the key that was hanging on a chain on her neck, and unlocked the door, glancing over her shoulder quickly to check she hadn't been followed. She stepped inside the TARDIS and was met with the familiar glowing lights that illuminated the TARDIS. Leaning up against the door for a second, she breathed out slowly and checked her watch.

"I've got half an hour." she mumbled quietly, giving herself an excuse to stay in the TARDIS for just a little bit longer. It hummed appreciatively, and Martha walked around the centre consol, stroking it softly and she paced round it.

"There're Zeppelins outside." she said, for lack of anything else to say. "Dunno what you make of that."

Martha pulled the newspaper out of her jacket and glanced down it uninterestedly. She frowned when she saw the date. "You're as bad as him." she said amusedly to the TARDIS, and it buzzed quietly in response. Martha looked up at the cylindrical display. "You got the date wrong." she explained, not expecting the machine to understand her. "It's…25th of April, 20.11. 20-point-11?" she frowned at the date on the newspaper. "Must be some new dating system. But the point is, it's '20.11'. Not whatever date you were supposed to take us, in 2007. Assuming this 20.11 thing means 2011, since it looks like 21st century England out there, you're four years off."

The TARDIS lights darkened and it droned angrily in protest. Martha smiled. "Alright, alright." she said jokingly, raising her hands in the air whilst still holding the paper. "You were _supposed_ to take us here then."

She threw the paper on the seat, and kept walking around the machinery. "So, in four years time, the Earth's filled with Zeppelins?" she asked, but the TARDIS didn't reply with it's usual hum or mechanical whirr.

"Fine." Martha said quietly, checking her watch. "You ignore me all you like, but I've got to get to work." She picked up her coat from where she had thrown it on the coral displays the day before and headed out the door. "Suzie wants to take me out round the pub tonight - secretary's night out or something, so I'll be back later."

She paused, then opened the door and walked out, shaking her head at the thought of telling an over-sized computer what time she was coming home.

- - - - - - -

Back at Torchwood, no one was expecting Rose Tyler back for weeks. Even Martha was surprised to see her walking through the door that morning. She had been talking to John moments before, about something so insignificant and light-hearted that when Rose came walking solemnly through the doors, she almost felt guilty for not mourning Mickey. She glanced behind herself to John, who was walking down the corridor towards the lifts, and then in front of her, where Rose was fast approaching. She tried to brave a smile, but Rose's half-hearted attempt at one in return made her feel so sorry for the girl that she instantly stopped. Rose obviously sensed the change in atmosphere of the room, and seemed to brighten up immediately.

"Hello again." Rose said, smiling fakely, and Martha reciprocated the action and took the identity card that Rose was holding out. "It's Martha, right? Martha Jones?"

Martha nodded and handed Rose her card back after scanning it. Rose went to walk away down the corridor, but then a thought occurred to her and she stopped in her tracks.

"Listen, I'm really sorry…about the other day. Y'know, all that stuff about John? I must've terrified you."

Martha smiled. "It's fine, Miss. Really, I understand."

Rose shook her head, irritated. "Please, no 'Miss'." she insisted. "I hate it." She leant on the desk, checking that no one was waiting for Martha's attention. "Thing is…" she began awkwardly. "There's something…not quite right - about John. Don't you think?"

Martha swallowed nervously. "He's just a bit…distant, sometimes." she invented, hoping it would satisfy Rose.

"It's like…" continued Rose, as if Martha had never spoken. "Like he's got something to get back to. Like he's always thinking about something else." Rose looked up at the top of the white wall behind Martha absent-mindedly, then returned her gaze to Martha. "And he was telling me about these…dreams. About these travels he used to have. Well, not 'used to have', but…" Rose trailed off, realising her mistake. "Only -" Rose cut off again, unsure of what to say so as not to convince Martha she was completely crazy. "Never mind." she finished, and went to walk out of Martha's way, but she stood up and took her arm gently.

"Rose," she whispered, and Rose turned to look at her. "They're just…dreams, y'know. They're not real."

Rose wrenched her arm away but didn't reply. She turned and walked away, thoughtful, giving Martha the briefest of goodbye smiles before heading around the corner towards the lift.

Suzie turned to Martha suddenly, and didn't speak for a second. Then she sniffed loudly and caught Martha's attention.

"Are we still on for tonight?" she asked, expressionlessly. Martha frowned at her sudden abruptness, but nodded nonetheless and looked down at her computer screen.

"Yeah." she replied, and Suzie tilted her head to the side, smiling almost menacingly. She sniffed again, loudly, and Martha looked around to her, startled.

"You okay?" she asked, frowning. Suzie jerked her head upright, still smiling.

"Of course." she replied, not blinking. "Everything is going to plan."

Martha almost laughed with surprise. "Sorry?"

But Suzie ignored her, and Martha turned back to her work, wondering what Suzie had in store for her tonight.

- - - - - - -

Helena Price slipped her phone into her pocket and grinned, turning back to face her friends, who were sprawled out on the grass.

"Who's that you're texting, then?" one of her friends teased. "Not Harry, by any chance?"

Helena blushed, her expression masked in the dim light of the evening, but she neither confirmed or denied the fact. "I've gotta go, dad wants me home." She stood up, brushing the grass off her trousers, and picked up her bag. "I'll see you lot tomorrow." she called as she walked away, and her friends yelled back goodbyes as she turned and exited the park.

Her friends heard screaming as they laughed together about Helena's love life, but they dismissed it instantly, and continued to share light-hearted jokes about their friend.

Minutes later, the distant form of Suzie Costello disappeared around the corner, with an unconscious teenager being carried behind her by an army of shop mannequins. She smirked as they moved out of the gleam of the street lamps and towards her home. For she was no longer Suzie Costello - only the woman's body remained. And the mind of Helena Price would soon vanish into the night, leaving her body as a host for Sister of Mine.

* * *

Okay, a couple of points:  
-The whole deal with it being three years later but the TARDIS thinking it's present day - that's because of the time difference thng (you know, how in Army of Ghosts, it's only been a few months for the Doctor and Rose since the first Cyberman attack (in Rise of the Cybermen), when it's been three years for Pete's World. Or something. Basically, time goes faster in Pete's World than it does on our world. I don't know how else to explain it (or whether that's actually right, lol).)  
-In case you got confused with the '20.11' thing, it does actually mean the year 2011. I heard/saw it in RotC/AoS/AoG/DD, but it's very late, and I just watched them all back-to-back, so who really knows? Lol. Someone says the year is '20.5', or something, and I assumed that meant 2005. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.  
-Also, I know Suzie Costello is (in Torchwood Cardiff of this universe) a proper member, not just a secretary, but...well, basically, I don't like her, so I'm putting her in Torchwood London and demoting her, lol. It's my Alt!Universe, I can do what I like. ;)  
-Finally, if you noticed, yes, the name Helena Price is a reference. But who to?

Review please! And OMG - enjoy The Stolen Earth! I cannot wait! Finally, a reunion! :squee:


	7. Not Quite Just A Dream

Disclaimer: I own merely my story-notebook. Oh, and my imagination - though to be truthful, sometimes I _do_ wonder whether my imagination's the one in charge.

So, so, so sorry about the long wait. I swear, it's all my school's fault. Seriously. But I finally got round to it, and (although next chapter is going to be _so_ much more awesome!) it's not all that bad, in my opinion. P It may not be very action-packed, but trust me, it's _so_ important. As you'll find out.

NTMR (Notes to my reviewer(s)):  
-Josie: Yeah, the character reference was Mrs Moore - she told the Doctor her real name was 'Price' and that she had a family, and I missed her. Look out for more references - I love them, and my favourite one's coming up soon. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 7: Not Quite Just A Dream**

Martha smiled to Suzie as she slipped behind the desk that morning.

"Where were you last night?" she asked. "Half an hour I waited for you at that pub! You didn't answer your phone or anything!"

"Sorry." Suzie replied expressionlessly. "I was busy."

"Well, you could've called." Martha retorted, but the conversation seemed to end there.

"Look, I wanted to ask you something." Martha began nervously. "You might think I'm crazy, but…what're all those zeppelins _doing_, exactly?"

Suzie looked blankly at Martha, as if recovering thoughts hidden deep inside her mind. Then she relaxed and laughed. "Tell me about it." She turned away, still speaking, and started to check in the line of employees that had appeared behind the desk. "Half the time I wonder the same thing. Apparently they've been investigating it, ever since Mr Tyler and the People's Republic took control, up there at the top of the tower."

Martha nodded, wondering what exactly the People's Republic was, but Suzie hadn't finished talking.

"'Cause I think most of us want them gone - the zeppelins, I mean - but the government's still arguing. Not much of a People's Republic if the people don't get a say, is it?" she joked. Martha smiled back, but then turned to her computer and frowned.

'_Since when has there been a People__'__s Republic for government in England?__'_ she wondered. _'__Not _that_ much could have happened in three years.__'_

But she cast the thought away as Suzie began talking again. "But Torchwood's been fighting for them to go, 'cause of the whole Lumic thing. First thing Mr Tyler wanted to do when he took over. But five years on, and still nothing's happened."

Martha started, looking to Suzie disbelievingly. "Wait - _five_ years?"

Suzie didn't spare Martha a glance, still checking people's identity cards as they came up to the desk. "Yeah, five years. What about it?"

Martha swallowed and turned back to her computer screen. "No, nothing. Just…nothing."

"Okay, so maybe this isn't 2011." she muttered to the screen, absent-mindedly trawling through the records she was supposed to be updating.

- - - - - - -

Rose entered her office at midday to see John stood in the middle of the room, hands in his suit pockets, staring at the walls sadly.

"How was yesterday?" he asked, not turning to check if it was her. "I heard you came in for the day.

Rose walked up to him and stood by his side.

"I wasn't here." he continued. "Had to go to some conference in Wales. Very boring, you'd have hated it."

Rose smiled weakly. "Yeah, well, I persuaded my mum to let me come back. And I don't know why, but she let me come back in this afternoon as well, thank God. I don't know what I would've done if she'd kept me in that house any longer."

John chuckled, and then looked at Rose. "First time I've been back here since…you know." Rose nodded understandingly. "It's weird," he continued. "I met him less than a month ago, but it feels like I knew him for years."

There was an awkward silence before Rose spoke. "Same here. I couldn't bring myself to come here yesterday."

John frowned. "What did you do then? All your work's in here."

Rose looked up at him but didn't answer.

"Upstairs?" he asked quietly. Rose froze momentarily.

"Yeah."

They looked at each other for a moment, trying to decipher each other's thoughts, before they were interrupted by the door swinging open. A woman's footsteps echoed in the room as Kate trudged slowly into the room. She stood next to Rose and sniffed sadly.

"He's really gone." she said quietly, and walked over to Mickey's section of the room. His large desk was cluttered with papers and folders, all strewn about the place in what Mickey had called his 'organised mess'.

"Just came for something." she muttered, as a way of explanation as she rifled through one of the pockets of Mickey's lab coat that was hung up on the wall next to the desk. She pulled out two small, silver earrings and held them tightly in her hand.

"First date." Kate murmured, the sounds bouncing off the walls. "I left them round his place and thought I'd lost them. He said he'd buy me new ones." She suddenly raised her free hand to her mouth and cried into it jaggedly.

She sat down on Mickey's chair for a moment to gather herself, and Rose and John walked over Rose's portion of the room to give her some privacy. Rose sat in silence on her desk chair and John perched on the side of her desk, looking at his shoes awkwardly.

Kate fell silent and opened her hand to reveal the two earrings. She stroked them gently and placed them in her inside pocket carefully. Wiping her eyes with a deep sigh, she noticed a large fob watch, lying discarded on the edge of Mickey's desk. Slightly confused, she picked it up and examined it. She couldn't remember Mickey owning a fob watch, but it must be his. It had beautiful, abstract indents on the front, and she caressed them softly, as if the slightest touch would break the object.

She was about to press down the button on the top of the watch when voices erupted in her ears.

"_Time Lord.__"_ it sang out, a whisper louder than words. _"__Help me. Hide me. I__'__m trapped, kept inside the cogs.__"_

She froze and looked around at John and Rose. Neither of them seemed to have noticed, or heard anything, for that matter. She frowned, and slipped the watch into her pocket silently. Then, after a moment of thought, she stood up straight, breathed out slowly, and walked out of the door, stopping briefly near Rose and John to say a hesitant goodbye.

John stood up uneasily, and walked over to the large desk in the centre of the room. Rose did the same, after a pause, and stood opposite John in the bland, white room.

"Had any more dreams?" she asked, in a vain attempt to brighten the mood, but John looked down, avoiding her eyes. The edges of Rose's mouth twisted up into a sly smile as his face grew slowly redder.

"I, uh, I have, actually." he muttered.

"Go on." Rose said teasingly, surprised at how easy it was to make fun of him.

"Well…" he looked up embarrassedly. "Uh, you were there, again. And I was there, I think. But as I said, I looked…different." He paused, but Rose didn't reply, anticipating what John would say next. He didn't speak again for a few moments, gathering his thoughts, and there was silence in the room.

Martha approached John's floor cautiously, unsure of whether she was allowed up here. She had arranged to meet with John for lunch, but he seemed to have forgotten. She was just glad that he 'remembered' them being good friends, so she wasn't going to complain. But she couldn't help but feel slightly wrong-footed, up here at the top of the building. She knew she didn't belong, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

Hearing John's voice from inside the room, Martha walked away from the staircase and pushed the door slightly open. She saw John leaning on a huge desk in the middle of the room, and Rose stood a few metres in front of him. Leaving the door slightly ajar, she ducked out of sight and pressed her ear up to the crack.

"And we were in this…uh, museum." John was saying to Rose, with the air of a man recounting something he didn't believe in the slightest. "In - in the future." He gave a small laugh before continuing. "We, uh, we got there in this…spaceship. The 'TARDIS'. And we - that is, you and I - we saw all kinds of dead aliens. 'Dalek', one of them was called. And it was, well, it looked like a giant pepper-pot!" He said it as if it was the most ridiculous thing on Earth, but Rose was hanging on to every word. There was a stony silence as Rose stared into John's eyes.

"Have you been up there?" she asked, suddenly cold. "Who let you in?"

John froze, unaware of what to say or do. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Did you take my key?" she asked indignantly, rummaging around in her pockets. She pulled out a silver key on a long piece of string and paused. "Okay…no, then. Sorry." she muttered, keeping a firm hold of the key. "But how did you get in there? Just tell me!"

John still didn't know what to do. "I-I don't - I'm not - I haven't…been up anywhere!" he stuttered. "W-What do you mean?"

Rose backed away a little, swallowing hard. "You haven't been…up there?" she asked him suspiciously. He shook his head frantically, standing up straight and edging towards her.

"The room upstairs?" he questioned, and he took her silence as a yes. "No! No, I would never -!" He didn't finish the sentence though, because at that moment, Rose rushed out of the room, not even noticing Martha as she slid to the side to get out of the way.

She ran up the final flight of stairs to the top level, rounded the corner, and forced the key into the lock on the door. Wrenching it open, she ran inside and slammed it shut behind her, leaned back onto it, and stared straight ahead. She gazed at the two levers by the clear white wall with distaste; she glanced over the hundreds of sheets of paper littered across the floor with mild interest; and then she walked across the room and sat down cross-legged, amongst the messy piles of paper.

Picking a sheet up at random, her eyes narrowed with sadness. It had been her seventh attempt at drawing the Gelth, and Gywneth, but had been thrown to the floor with anger on a particularly stressful day. She glanced to her left, stretched over, and pulled across a huge, red folder, filled to the brim with sheets of scrappy paper. She flicked through it, stopping at the section of pictures and writing from her visit to Van Statten's museum in Utah, 2012. She had found this section one of the easiest to remember, jotting down everything she'd felt, everything she'd done, in pictures, or diary entries, or just single words scrawled across pieces of paper.

But he'd known. John had known. And there was only one way he could know about all that - only one thing could explain all of this.

It suddenly dawned on her. He didn't just look like the Doctor. He had the same memories. The same voice, though he used it differently; he was definitely not as brave; and he didn't see things in the same way the Doctor did, but it was the same person. It must be. There was no other explanation. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but she knew she must be right.

He was the Doctor.

* * *

Yay, the realisation finally hits! Not sure whether I've made Rose a bit thick for figuring it out so slowly, but the plot depended on it being dragged out even longer - as you can see, I didn't stick to it. But I know what I'm doing(ish), so don't worry!  
What did you think? Bear in mind that, once again, it's very late at night (I blame my Maths teacher for giving me stupid homework), so sorry for any stupid mistakes. Please, please, please point them out. Especially anything about the People's Republic and/or the whole zeppelin thing, because I really don't get those bits. I'm just making it up as I go along. ) But hey, it's my story - nothing is sacred.


	8. Not Quite A Complete Plan

Disclaimer: This show does not belong to me. Neither does the fandom, the actors, the sets, the costumes, or this computer.

Okay, so summer's here, and I'm (marginally) less busy. So have an update! I promise, they will get more frequent. And this one's quite long, so enjoy it!  
(Since it's been so long since an update, you may need to backtrack to the last chapter quickly and read the last paragraph or so, in order to understand what's happening.)

* * *

**Chapter 8: Not Quite A Complete Plan**

Martha stood with her back pressed against the wall, wide-eyed with worry and surprise. He remembered! John remembered being the Doctor! Panic flashed through her mind as she wondered what she was supposed to do now.

She was about to rush down the stairs and run back to the TARDIS in a frenzy, when the doors flew open for a second time and John emerged, looking confused and bewildered. He stared up the stairs after Rose for a moment, and then noticed Martha leaning against the white wall.

"Oh!" he said blankly, eyebrows raised with surprise. "Hello, Martha! I, uh, I don't -" He broke off abruptly, staring back up the staircase with confusion.

Martha snapped back to life, willing the dread and worry from her mind, and looking at John firmly. "We were going to meet for lunch." she supplied, since he looked too lost and confused to remember a thing.

"Yes!" he agreed, looking back down at her. "Yes, we were. Uh, could you just wait here for a moment?" He smiled apologetically.

She paused, then nodded defeatedly. He flew past her up the stairs, and she found herself watching him retreat sadly. "There's always someone else." she muttered, and slid down the wall to sit on the floor as she waited for John to return.

- - - - - - -

John slowed his pace as he approached the only door on this side of the topmost level. Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and rapped on the door three times with his knuckles.

Rose turned with a startled gasp as she heard the knocking on the door. She knew who it was immediately. After a pause, she stood up and tiptoed a little closer to the door.

John rapped on the door again - three sharp, short taps.

"I'm fine." Rose called out, and there was a pause. Then,

"Then why have you locked yourself in a disused room at the top of a skyscraper?"

She sighed with annoyance and walked to the door. Hesitantly, she released the lock and pulled down on the handle, opening the door just enough for John to see her face.

"See: I'm fine!" she said, faking a smile.

John peered over her shoulder, but she closed the door slightly and raised her head to block the view.

"What's in there?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." she said, attempting to close the door.

"Then what do you do in there?"

"Nothing!" she insisted. "I just…sit. And think."

There was a pause, and then Rose sighed. "I'm fine! Honestly! Go, have some lunch!"

"I will!" he said indignantly, her tone making him feel like a child. "I'm meeting with Martha, right now!"

Rose's stomach flipped over, though she wasn't sure why. "Then go! You're skinny enough already!"

He smiled at her feeble attempt at a joke, and reluctantly stepped away from the door. She smiled goodbye and pushed the door closed slowly. John sighed resignedly, stuck his hands in his pockets, and trudged down the stairs.

Martha greeted him at the bottom of the staircase with a broad, but forced, smile. He returned it, and they walked down to reception in silence.

Meanwhile, Rose paced back across to the middle of the room and sat down again in the pile of paper. She put her head on her hands and breathed out slowly, then reached for a piece of paper and a pencil that had been thrown on the floor. Resting the paper on the floor, she titled the sheet 'Martha - the companion', and began to draw.

- - - - - - -

Martha and John sat in silence as they ate in the cafeteria. John gazed around the room peacefully, absent-mindedly placing chips in his mouth, and Martha ignored her own salad, whilst staring in return at John, studying him for any sign of the Doctor.

"Martha?" John asked abruptly.

"Yeah?" replied Martha, looking down at her salad.

"How long have we known each other?" he asked, and she swallowed nervously.

"About ten years?" she pretended to guess. "I thought you remembered that?"

"I do, but…" He frowned. "It's as if…I know you, but I don't remember you. I know you're my friend, I know you're a good person, I know _you_…but I don't remember…us meeting. Or having fun. Or doing, well, anything."

Martha smiled sympathetically and reached out for his hand. "I know it's hard," she forced herself to say. "But once you're better, you'll start to remember things."

"Thing is…" he began, seemingly unsure of whether or not to continue. "I keep having these dreams." Martha raised her eyebrows with pretend curiosity, attempting to forget what she'd already heard upstairs. "I dream that I'm this…traveller." he continued, taking no notice of her reactions. "This adventurer - 'The Doctor'." He said the words as if in awe of the character, and Martha smiled vacantly at the irony. "And, my partner - I mean, my field partner, at Torchwood - Rose, she's been in them a lot, actually." After a pause, he suddenly looked at Martha, embarrassed, and as if he'd said too much. Her face fell, ever so slightly, and there was an awkward pause while the two friends ate their lunch in silence. Martha was almost relieved when their lunch were interrupted.

"Uh, excuse me?" a strong Welsh accent was heard from behind her, and John looked up to the man. "Are you John Smith?" Martha turned around to look at the source of the voice now, and saw a young man in a suit, looking questioningly at John with hopeful eyes. John nodded, smiling again, and the man let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank God." he said, walking closer. "You're the fifth man I've asked this afternoon!"

John laughed and indicated for the man to sit down.

"Ianto Jones." he said, holding out his hand, and John shook it as Ianto sat down at the table.

"Well, I'm currently studying the more adventurous side of Torchwood, and I'm going to be working with you and Rose Tyler for a while." he told John, and Martha's mind drifted out of the conversation, sensing she wouldn't be involved in it. She heard Ianto tell John about how he'd had some experience and wanted to become a full-time field agent, and then tuned out of the conversation completely, giving an excuse to John as she stood up from the table, though she wasn't even sure if he'd noticed.

Heading out of the cafeteria, she threw the remainder of her salad in the bin and looked around nervously before starting up the stairs to John and Rose's office near the top of the building. It had been her weekly ritual since they'd arrived: walking up to the second-to-top floor, and checking that the fob watch was still in its place, on a desk in John's office. Briefly smiling at anyone she passed, Martha tried her best to try and fit in with the other workers who's offices were this high up in the building, but the crowd soon thinned out, and by the time she'd reached John's floor, she was on her own in the stairwell.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward to open the door to John's office, but stepped back in alarm when she saw a figure coming down the stairs from the top floor. Backing away, she sighed with relief as she recognised the person as Rose.

"Sorry," she began. "Am I allowed up here?"

Rose, seeming to only just notice her, walked down the stairs to Martha, smiling almost forcedly. "Not really, but I won't tell." she joked, and Martha smiled.

"It was Rose, right?" she asked, and Rose nodded.

"And you're…Martha?"

"Yeah."

The was a pause, and Martha considered walking back down the stairs, before Rose stepped forwards.

"Look," she began wearily. "I don't want to hassle you about it, but…who exactly _is_ John?"

Martha shifted uncomfortably. "How d'you mean?"

"He says…he says he has dreams." Rose told her awkwardly.

"He just imaginative." she lied back.

"He says he travels. In space."

"They're just…stories." Martha backed away slightly, but Rose stepped forwards too.

"And in time." Rose added.

"They're not real." she insisted.

"But these 'travels', they're -" she broke off. "Sorry, never mind."

Martha hesitated, seeing that Rose was troubled. "What is it?"

"It's…it's nothing." Rose turned, about to walk away.

"Miss? I mean, Rose?" Martha asked, and Rose turned back to face her.

"My friend," she started slowly. "He used to travel. A lot. And John's stories, well they're…it's just…" She looked Martha in the eyes and seemed to think better of what she was going to say. "No. Never mind. Look, I'd better be off." she finished, walking past Martha down the stairs.

"Sure." Martha replied, and watched Rose leave before peering in through the window in the door to the office. Seeing that it was empty, she quietly pushed open the door and slid inside.

Martha crept across the large room until she reached the desk at which the fob watch usually lay, forgotten. But looking at the desk, she saw it was empty, devoid of any sign of the watch. Panicking slightly, Martha rummaged around in the drawers and on the floor near the desk, but after minutes of searching, she left the room empty handed and eager to get back to the TARDIS.

- - - - - - -

Wilson locked up his 'office' and threw the keys back in his bag lazily. Trudging slowly down the dim corridor, he yawned loudly and rooted through his bag for his key card. Dodging the outstretched arms of the numerous discarded mannequins in the basement, he slipped his card in the slot by the door, and was about to exit the basement when he heard a loud crash behind him. Turning abruptly, he saw a fallen mannequin lying on the floor, and sighing frustratedly, he walked back along the dingy hall to the plastic man. He picked it up, holding his back for support, and leant it against a wall, then started to walk back to the exit.

Absent-mindedly, he traced the same path he took every day out of the store, barely noticing as one of the mannequins on display in the closed shop raised an arm as he walked past. Frowning, he retraced his steps backwards, where the shop dummy was now turning its head to 'look' at Wilson.

His mouth fell slightly open and he peered around the dummy's shoulder.

"Is tha' you, Dan? Trisha?" he asked curiously, but no one was stood behind the dummy. It raised its arm higher, and Wilson took hold of it, annoyed.

"Now, listen here, whoever's -" he froze as the arm broke off in his hand, though the head was still moving. "Ben? Jacob? Come on boys, We're lockin' up."

The mannequin turned its body to face Wilson and raised its remaining arm to grip his shoulder.

"Get off!" he cried out, trying in vain to thrust it off, but before he knew it, he was surrounded by several more mannequins, all grabbing at him and pulling him away. He gasped and yelled out, even though he knew everyone else had left the shop hours ago.

"Who - who's that? Stop it!" he tired to call out, but his mouth was covered with a firm plastic hand, and his screams were muffled as the mannequins dragged his body away.

- - - - - - -

"Jamie, leave that alone!" Jackie shouted across the table, and Jamie dropped the rubber ball on the table obediently, only to pick it up again seconds later.

"Mum, can you pass the gravy?" asked Rose, pointing in the direction of the gravy boat.

"I want some chocolate!" Jamie called out, playing with the ball again.

"Jamie, just eat your dinner." Jackie told him, ignoring Rose's request.

"Dad, gravy?" she tried.

"Hold on love." Pete replied, turning back to the phone conversation. "What d'you mean, 'UNIT'll sort it'? Last time they dealt with a case, they blew up the Isle of White!"

"Pete, put that away at the table." Jackie ordered, ladling out peas onto Jamie's plate.

"Jamie," Rose attempted. "Can you give me the gravy?"

"I don't like peas!" Jamie was telling Jackie, who tactfully chose to ignore his protests.

"Well, Monday's too late." Pete was saying to whoever was on the other end of the phone. "I need to send -"

"Pete! Phone away, please!" Jackie told him again, and he covered the microphone momentarily to answer.

"Jacks, I'll just be a minute." he assured.

"Seriously, can I have some gravy?" Rose tried for the fourth time.

"Can I have some more mashed potato?" Jamie was now asking Jackie.

"No way. I can't -" Pete continued into the phone.

"Will _someone_ pass us the gravy?" Rose spoke over him, her voice rising in volume.

"Pete, for God's sake -" Jackie insisted.

"Jacks, this is important!" Pete protested back.

"Mash potato!" Jamie yelled out.

"Shut it!" Rose suddenly yelled, rising to her feet with annoyance. The occupants of the table froze at her outburst, and she sat down slowly, breathing out calmly. "Thanks. Now can someone, please, pass me the gravy?"

Jackie tutted, leant over to Rose, and placed the gravy boat by her plate. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Rose insisted, then paused. "It's just - It's not…forget it."

There was a brief silence, while Pete hung up the phone, Jamie picked at his food, and Jackie and Rose ate their meals silently.

"Dad," Rose started, looking up from her food. "Is there any more field work for us, at Torchwood?"

"Sorry love," Pete said bitterly, taking a sip of wine. "UNIT's decided they're takin' over."

"Good." Jackie muttered.

"What d'you mean, 'good'?" Rose asked edgily.

"I mean 'good'! I don't want you gettin' hurt like -" She broke off awkwardly and the table was silent again, before Pete spoke.

"Are you comin' to the company dinner on Tuesday?" he asked Rose conversationally, but Jackie answered for her.

"'Course she is! We all are!" she said, and Rose nodded in agreement, choosing not to argue.

"Who with?" This time, Jackie didn't answer for her, but looked at her expectantly, halfway through serving Jamie broccoli.

Rose shrugged. "Not sure yet." she lied, though she definitely had an idea of who to ask.

"Well, have you met Ianto yet?" Pete asked her, and she shook her head.

"Who?"

"Ianto Jones. He's replac- he's uh, gonna be on your team for a while." Rose looked up, startled, but choosing to ignore what was nearly said.

"Why? Me an' John are doin' fine."

"Oh, don't get me started on that John bloke." Jackie interrupted, deciding that this subject required her input. "I don't know what you were thinkin' Pete, putting that man with -"

"Mum, don't." Rose cut in warningly.

"But I'm just -"

"Just leave it!" she insisted, and Jackie silenced.

"Alright." she said quietly. "There's no need to yell. I don't know what's gotten into you lately."

Rose paused, stabbing a piece of broccoli with her fork to distract herself. "I'm sorry."

"Mash potato!" Jamie said to end the conversation, and Jackie sighed.

"Yeah, yeah." she muttered, passing the dish of potato over to Pete, for him to dish out to Jamie.

Rose ate her dinner in silence for a few moments, contemplating whether or not she should really ask John to the company dinner.

'_There's no harm in it.'_ she told herself. _'If he says yes - great. And if he asks what the hell is wrong with me, I'll just say I meant as work partners. Should be fine.'_ Her mind then drifted onto her food, what she'd wear to work tomorrow, and how Jamie managed to eat so much potato in such a short length of time, before settling once more on John.

"It's gotta be him." she said suddenly, and Jackie turned to look at her, confused.

"Who?"

"The Doctor! They're just…so alike." She considered. "And he's even got the Doctor's psychic paper."

"His what?" Jackie asked.

"His - never mind." Rose finished, not wanting to get into a technical conversation about 'slightly psychic paper'.

"Still," Jackie was arguing, using her fork to gesture. "If he is the Doctor, how come he don' think he is?"

"An' why's he only got one heart?" Pete added. "Says so in his medical file."

"An' how'd he get 'ere?" Jamie suddenly said through a mouthful of potato, and Rose turned to look at him, shocked.

"How d'you know what we're talkin' about?" she asked him.

"Mickey told me stories." he said proudly. "He said you used to travel with a doctor. He said you had a spaceship."

Rose smiled to herself. "He did, did he?"

Rose ate the rest of her meal in silence, with the sounds of her family's conversations merely the background noise to her thoughts. The voices became faded sounds, as she decided that John couldn't be the Doctor, and perhaps he was just ever so slightly psychic, or something.

- - - - - - -

Martha rushed into the TARDIS, out of breath but still running towards the console.

"It's gone." she told herself and the TARDIS breathlessly. "The fob watch - is gone." Collapsing onto the captain's chair, she caught her breath before looking up at the still central column.

"For the past month, John's kept it on a desk in his office. But…it's gone!" No one answered, and although she hadn't expected anyone to, Martha still felt let down by the machine. "He wouldn't move it. He doesn't even notice it!" she continued. "Oh my God, someone's taken it!" She leapt to her feet at the revelation, but the TARDIS made no recognition that she'd spoken.

"Talk to me!" she yelled. "Make a noise! Do something! You never shut up, what's _wrong_?"

She walked around the console, stroking the different parts of the machine gently. After a few moments, she stopped, and stepped back. "Well, if you're not gonna help, I might as well not bother." she told the TARDIS firmly, but her heart weakened as it produced a soft, almost unidentifiable, whirring sound.

"What is it?" she pleaded. "Are you…I dunno, sick?" The sound faded into the background, and Martha walked towards the door to the corridor, stopping briefly and turning back to address the room one last time before exiting.

"I'm gonna have to ask him." she decided. "Can I do that? Can I tell him?" There was silence, and Martha walked away resignedly.

- - - - - - -

"Do we have his scent?" the now sinister voice of Jeffrey Wilson rang out through the interior of the spaceship, more pristine and clear that the man's real voice.

The form of Helena Price moved silkily towards him. "No, Father of Mine." she said, her voice empty of any emotion or feeling. "But the Time Lord is still close. I feel him near."

Suzie Costello moved jaggedly to them in the green ambience of the ship. "You are forgetting that Son of Mine still craves a physical form."

"Tomorrow, Mother of Mine." Jeffrey's voice echoed harshly. "Tomorrow, we shall find Son of Mine a body. And the plan shall fall into place."

"How do we propose to find the Doctor?" the teenage girl asked, her voice lower and almost inhuman.

"We shall find his scent again." Jeffrey answered simply.

"This female, 'Suzie'." Suzie spoke the name with disgust. "She has befriended an Earth girl, 'Martha', who speaks of exploring the stars. Is it possible that the Time Lord has taken female form?"

Jeffrey's lips twisted up into an unnatural smirk. "We shall see. All will become clear soon enough."

"But Suzie has other memories, hidden away in her tiny mind. A 'Tyler' boy, too young to know otherwise, also spoke to her of the stars and the Doctor." she turned her head to one side with a sly smile. "His information could be valuble. A host for Son of Mine?"

"The child sounds suitable." Helena added.

"Then it is settled." Jeffrey said authoritatively. "Son of Mine shall have this boy's consciousness tomorrow." He turned to Suzie, the matter closed. "Is the army ready for battle?" he asked her.

"We have one hundred soldiers awaiting command." she informed him.

"Excellent." he replied, though his voice sounded anything but happy. "Then tomorrow, Son of Mine shall have a form. And the Family will be ready."

* * *

Ooh, spooky. :P Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed it! Review please! And one a side note, is that how you spell 'Jeffrey'?


	9. Not Quite The Perfect Romance

Disclaimer: Maybe in a Parallel Universe. Possibly. If I'm lucky. Okay, very lucky. Really, really, overly, extremely lucky.

Well, I did tell you my updates would be more frequent, but this time, you can thank Braceface Freak, who wanted me to put up another chapter before she went on holiday (have a good time! Lucky devil...).  
Oh, and something I forgot to mention in chapter 8's A/N: Uh, yeah, bascially forget about anything that happened in the finale of series 4 Doctor Who. 'Cause I'm pretty sure I've already called Tony 'Jamie', and, well, have _you_ seen any duplicate!Doctor's running around the place, looking for their glasses?  
Oh, and chapter 9? :grins manically: You'll either love it or hate it. A new ship arises out of the dust. Please welcome it before killing me.

NTMR:  
-Uh, you don't sound very pleased with my Jamie plan. I'd like to say "Fair enough, I'll change it." but the story kind of depends on it. Sorry. Please don't kill me. But other than that, thanks for the support!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Not Quite The Perfect Romance**

Rose paced up and down the white gleaming floor of her office, biting her nails nervously as she waited for the doors to open. She had gone through the situation a thousand times in her head, but still didn't know if it was the right decision to make.

Should she ask him? Should she really ask him to the dinner? What if it was too awkward? What if he was too much like the Doctor? Or what if she had a great time, and then felt guilty because he _wasn__'__t_ the Doctor? Of course, this was all based on whether or not he said yes, and if he didn't, what would she do then?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the office double doors flew open, and she looked up blankly to see John, sauntering in casually in jeans, red converse, and a brown jacket.

"Morning!" he said brightly. "I took your fashion tips; you're right, no one here wears suits." He walked across the room to her and she dropped her arms to her waist. Taking a deep breath, she made her decision.

"Yeah, hi." she began, her voice shaking slightly. She hid her hands behind her back in the hope that they wouldn't be shaking too wildly, though she felt like fireworks were going off inside her.

"Uh, you - you know the anual company dinner party?" she asked him, faking a casual smile as he nodded. "Well, it's this Tuesday, and I…well, I was wondering -" she broke off and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"I have to go." she started again. "Y'know, since I'm the boss's daughter and that. And uh, well, are you going?"

John opened his mouth, taken by surprise at the question. "I - I was going to, yes. I suppose I should."

"Good." Rose said quickly, and swallowed the lump that was gradually forming at the back of her throat. "So I was thinking that…maybe, if you're not already going with someone, just that, if you'd maybe…"

"Go with you?" John finished for her, a small smile playing on his lips. Rose smiled, relieved.

"Yeah." she shrugged, in an attempt to seem nonchalant.

"Yeah." John nodded, and Rose paused, waiting for the answer, before realising it had already been given.

"Yes? That's…a yes? You will?" she asked him, surprised. His face broke into a grin.

"Yeah, why not?" he grinned at her, and she smiled back, overjoyed.

"Great!" she laughed. "That's…good! Can't wait!"

"Me neither." John agreed, and the two looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"So, have you met our new colleague?" John asked suddenly, and Rose remembered what Pete had been saying a few nights previously.

"No. It's Ianto, right? Ianto…Jones?"

"Yeah. I met him a few days ago. He's a nice guy." John told her, and she nodded.

"Good." Rose replied awkwardly, at a loss for anything else to say.

There was a second pause, while John sat back into a chair in the centre of the room, and Rose watched him interestedly, fiddling with her bitten nails and trying furiously to think of something to say.

"Um, I asked dad - uh, Mr Tyler - about field work." she started, pulling up a chair a couple of metres away from John. "But he says UNIT's taken all the cases. So there's not much to do."

"Ah, right." he replied, nodding. "Well, I was wondering…" he paused, contemplating whether or not to continue. "My dreams…I've uh, I've had quite a few more. And I've written them down, in the form of fiction. Well, I brought it along, today." He looked up to Rose briefly, his cheeks tinged ever so slightly pink, and reached into his jacket pocket. "I don't know if you'd be interested - you may not, I mean, you probably -"

"I'd be very interested." Rose cut him off, and he smiled, relieved.

"Really? Right, well, it's…" he trailed off, pulling a leather-bound book from his inside pocket, and Rose dragged her chair across to sit by him, a screech echoing in the room as the legs were pulled along the floor.

"'A Journal Of Impossible Things'." Rose read off the front cover, leaning in slightly to see the room. John opened the book to the first page, and Rose's jaw dropped slightly, intrigued by the drawings and scratchy writing on the page.

"This is where it all begins." John informed her. "A burning city. I don't remember the name."

Rose skimmed over the text, picking out odd words as John talked. She thought better of correcting 'city' to 'planet'.

"And here," he continued, flicking the page over. "The Doctor, uh, he met you. Looking, as I said, quite different. And these creatures - living plastic."

Rose touched the drawing of the Auton gently, fascinated by the accuracy of John's 'dreams' to her own travels, and enchanted by the beautiful drawings. For a second, she forgot the Doctor and became absorbed in the pictures.

"Where did you learn to draw?" she breathed, not lifting her gaze from the book.

"Gallifrey." he said, as if on impulse, and she froze, looking up to him with wide eyes. He was frowning, but seemed unperturbed. "Hm, must be in Ireland." he added, not any where near as concerned as Rose. Her worries were diminished, however, as John began to explain his book again, turning the page once again.

"This is the box - the blue box." he told her, pointing to a drawing of the TARDIS. "This funny little box that transports me to far away places. And these ghosts were aliens, feeding off gas." he informed her. "Terrifying things. Oh, and this creature here: it's from the most absurd planet - 'Raxi-', uh, 'Raxicon-' - well, a very long name indeed." he finished lamely.

"Raxicoricophallapatorius." Rose spoke, pretending to read the word off the page, and John laughed.

"Yes, exactly! Then there are these children, wearing gas masks, and this character, uh, Captain Jack Harknell, I think." Rose smirked at Jack's supposed name, but John didn't notice, too absorbed in his dreams. "And here…the Doctor changed his face; his whole body. It's…ludicrous." Rose smiled peacefully at the ink drawing of 'her' Doctor - or John, depending on which way you looked at it - on the page.

"But, he's the same man. So they keep travelling - they meet Queen Victoria, and go to parallel worlds," - Rose bit her lip and felt her heart skip a beat - "And fight against more aliens. And then…" John's tone grew softer and sadder. "Then, I - uh, the Doctor, I mean - he loses you, I'm sorry to say. It's all a bit of a blur, but the Dalek creatures, and the Cyber-forms, they take you away from him. In this very building, actually, I believe, in that room up the top." Rose felt tears forcing their way into her eyes, but continued to stare at the book, glancing over the phrases and words written around the Dalek and Cybermen drawings.

"And he travels again…on his own for a while. But he's not the same. He's…" John trailed off, clearing his throat, but Rose couldn't help but wish he'd finish the sentence.

Then John flicked over the page and Rose's breath caught in her throat.

"Is that me?" she breathed out, leaning in and pouring over the image. John looked around her head at the picture.

"Yes." he smiled. "I believe so."

Rose didn't answer for a moment, entranced by the black and white copy of herself. She brushed her fingers over the coarse paper lightly, and only broke her gaze from the image to look at the surrounding writing.

She picked out a number of phrases in the scribbled writing: _'Gone'_, _'I know her'_, _'Want to find her'_; and one phrase that stuck out to her the most,_ 'In my dreams, she will not answer me, and she keeps walking away'_. She blinked furiously, willing the tears away from her eyes, and tried to laugh them off.

"You've made me way too pretty." she smiled, turning to face him for a second, not long enough for him to have seen the tears forming in her eyes. She looked back to the page and her hair flew in front of John's face. He breathed in slowly, smelling the sweet aroma of her hair as she traced around the image with her index finger. Suddenly, she pulled away, looking straight to John. He smiled.

"Well, that's how I see you." he told her, looking directly into her eyes.

Then, without realising it, they were facing each other. The Journal fell from John's hands to the floor, forgotten, as was any air of the Doctor around John. He gazed into Rose's eyes in a way the Doctor would never have done, and for her, despite anything telling her otherwise, that was proof enough that John was a completely different man. Rose's faked smile dropped slightly, as she was overcome by an urge to kiss John, there and then.

She felt guilty, but it seemed right, and as John leaned in, she did the same. His lips brushed hers gently, just for a second, and he seemed to pull away, embarrassed for his actions. But then Rose leaned forwards and pulled him back towards her, and he placed his hand on her waist delicately, letting himself fall into the kiss with ease. His tongue grazed across her teeth, and she reached one hand up to his face, barely touching his smooth skin before diving her dainty fingers into his hair, sinking into the kiss blissfully.

A loud thud broke them apart instantly, and John looked up to the door, while Rose glanced down, feeling the heat on her cheeks. She heard a gasp from the doorway, and looked up to see Martha Jones standing by the double doors, her mouth open.

"Martha!" John spoke immediately, surprised and shocked. "You shouldn't be up here!" he told her, and she rushed from the room with wide eyes and a choked breath.

Outside the office, Martha leant against the wall, breathing rapidly, a thousand different things running through her mind. She pulled herself upright, still leaning against the wall, and rested her head on the cool panel.

"That wasn't on the list." she said to herself, sadly, and felt tears creeping up into her eyes as she ran down the stairs through the building.

- - - - - - -

Jamie laughed to himself as he swung himself down a short pole in the play area. Jackie smiled from the bench at his happy grin, then turned away, talking into her phone as she rifled through her large bag for the car keys.

"I know!" she was saying incredulously. "And they were 40 percent off!" She paused, waiting for her friend to reply. "Hey, I might be married to a millionaire, but I can still enjoy the sales!" she laughed, not noticing the tall figure making its way into the playground.

Suzie Costello moved inhumanly towards the boy, in the dim light of the evening.

"Suzie!" Jamie cried, jumping off the mini climbing wall and running towards her. She smiled welcomingly, but Jamie looked back nervously to Jackie, who hadn't yet noticed the woman. He looked back to Suzie, who had moved to a spot behind the playing apparatus, out of Jackie's sight.

"Mum says I shouldn't talk to you." Jamie said reluctantly, moving slowly over to Suzie.

"Why not?" Suzie asked, bending down to the boy's level. She gave a long sniff, flaring her nostrils out in an attempt to pick up the Doctor's scent.

"You've got a cold." Jamie told her unhelpfully.

"Why does she say not to talk to me?" Suzie asked again, ignoring Jamie's comment.

"'Cause I told you about Mickey and Rose, when I was waiting for her at Torchwood. An' I'm not supposed to."

Suzie faked an amused smile. "Why ever not?"

"'Cause they're secrets." Jamie said proudly.

"Tell me." Suzie instructed him, and her eyes widened madly. Jamie glanced through a hole in the climbing wall to Jackie, who was still rooting through her bag and talking on her phone.

"Tell me about your sister, Jamie." she continued, grabbing his arm and forcing him to face her.

"I should go." Jamie said, scared, and Suzie slackened her grip slightly.

"If you tell me about her spaceship again, I can show you a real one." she said, her eyes glittering, like an animal entrancing its prey.

Jamie looked back through the hole at Jackie, who was putting he phone into the bag, but Suzie prevented him from returning to her. He looked back to her.

"Let go." he said, but Suzie ignored him.

"It's big, and invisible, but I could take you inside -"

"Jamie?" the two heard from behind the climbing wall. Jackie had stood up and was looking around with confusion. Suzie dragged him further behind the wall and clamped a hand over his mouth, muffling the sound as he cried out.

"- and show you my friends. D'you want to see a spaceship, Jamie?" she smiled sinisterly. Jamie shook his head, tears falling down his cheeks, but Suzie ignored his reply. "It'll only take a minute."

"Jamie, where are you?" Jackie called again, more frantically, and the cries echoed around her in the empty park and street.

"Come on Jamie. Let's go and see a spaceship." she told the child, and led him away, still clutching his arm firmly. When they were completely out of Jackie's sight, Suzie lifted Jamie over her shoulder, not reacting to his struggles, and carried him into the approaching darkness.

"Jamie?" Jackie could still be heard, yelling hysterically into the night. "Oh my God, Jamie?!"

- - - - - - -

The curtains blew softly in the breeze, letting a gentle wind into the bedroom as John tossed and turned in his sleep. His dreams still haunted his nights, but now they were different; filled with rage and violence. His face contorted with pain as a memory took form in his mind.

_Water drips down from above and sprays his face. The place is flooding, but he doesn't move. He's angry and sad, and for the first time, he wants to kill.  
_"_Doctor!" a voice rings out below him. He looks down. Donna Noble, in her wedding dress, is looking up at him, distressed and afraid. "You can stop now!"  
__The Doctor looks back up at the Racnoss gravely. The water cascades down the tunnel into the centre of the Earth, destroying her children. He's a murderer. But he can't stop._

John breathed in and out heavily, wishing the dreams away, and another image erupted in his mind.

_It's cold. But it can't be, because the moon has no atmosphere. He's gazing across the craters with Dr Martha Jones. Then he's lying on a hospital floor, drained of blood. He's dying, but Martha saves him._

_The image fades into another. Daleks fill the night skies of Hooverville, and the Doctor can only scream. He shouts out, angry, but so afraid. He orders them to kill him, and he feels so alive._

_A fourth image forms. The sun's alive. He can feel it. He's burning up; he could kill everyone, and he wants to. He has to be strong, but he's scared. Martha's there, and she saves him once more._

_Then it's 2007. He's running because he has to escape. The chase is on; the Family are so close. He's in the TARDIS with Martha. He's screaming out with pain, and she's terrified for him. His head feels like it should explode. Every cell in his body is being changed. He's in unbearable pain, and he's scared, so scared._

John sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing deeply and rapidly in the night. He brought his hands down to his sides and closed his eyes for a second, willing away the images in his mind. Glancing to the clock, he saw that it was the dead of the night, and he let himself sink back down into the bed. He gazed lovingly at the sleeping figure beside him before he himself slipped into a deep sleep, this time interrupted only by his own desire to watch Rose sleep peacefully into the night.

* * *

Okay, so you can decide for yourselves what was going on: a) between Rose and John (have fun), and b) in my head when I wrote this. Though you may not want to know (b) so much.

Yes, I may have _slightly_ killed off Jamie. And yes, I may have _slightly_ made John and Rose 'a little more than friends'. But remember now, torches and pitchforks _down_ before you review. I want no violence. Though you are welcome to yell. Using Caps Lock, of course.  
Oh, and I'd especially like people's opinions on the kiss scene, since I've never really written one before and I'm not too good at that kind of thing.


	10. Not Quite Safe

Disclaimer: Not quite yet.

Okay, can I just point out that I never said anything sexual happened between Rose and John. It was all your own imagination. Think whatever you like. Maybe they just went out, had chips, came home, and John only had one bed. :P

NTMR:  
-Glad you all like it, and sorry again about Jamie. But I have plans, so do not fear. Much.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Not Quite Safe**

Jackie clenched her teeth with frustration as she tapped her feet incessantly on the stone floor. She felt tears as they fell unevenly down her face, and didn't for one second worry about her make-up running. Clutching her mug of cold coffee in one hand, and the tormenting silent phone in the other, only one thought had been playing on her mind for the past thirteen hours.

Suddenly, a trill sound erupted from the phone, and she raised it to her ear without skipping a beat.

"Yeah?" she asked urgently, eyes widened with hope and fear.

"Uh, hello?" came the voice at the other end, and Jackie's heart fell.

"Oh, Rose -" Jackie broke off as a lump rose in her throat, but Rose cut in before she could continue.

"I was expecting the answer-phone. But just to say, you know the friend's house I stayed round last night? Well I'm gonna be -"

"My God, Rose, it's Jamie! He's gone!" Jackie burst out, oblivious to the fountain of tears streaming down her face.

"What?!" exclaimed Rose.

"I took him to the playground last night, and - oh, and I wasn't lookin', and he ran off, and - oh, what if he's lost? Or dead? Oh, my God, what if he's -"

"Mum!" Rose cried out. "Stop it! Um, look, just forget what I said, I'm comin' home." Rose hung the phone up and stood still for a second, fiddling with the bottom of John's long shirt that she had been using as night clothes, and breathing heavily as a million possible scenarios ran through her mind.

"Everything okay?" came John's concerned voice. Rose turned to look at him, stood in the doorway of the living room in his green striped pyjamas, with innocently raised eyebrows. She ran a hand through her untamed hair and walked forward to him with worry, slightly cautious about how much of her body was exposed by the shirt.

"I - I'm sorry, it's my brother, Jamie. He's gone missing." she told him distractedly, walking quickly past him to search for her belongings that had been strewn over the apartment the previous night. "I've got to get home - I'm so sorry."

"No, not at all!" John said immediately, joining her in the search for her left shoe. "I completely understand! Goodness, I hope he's all right."

Standing up straight with both shoes in her hand, she looked sorrowfully at John.

"I, um, I had such a great time last night." She said, moving slowly back towards the bedroom.

"Yeah." John smiled. "Me too."

"I'll just go… get changed." Rose told him, pointing to the room as she entered it, the pale blue shirt barely covering her hips as John watched her walk away.

Minutes later, Rose emerged from the bedroom wearing her work clothes from the previous day, and John looked up from his bowl of cereal, also now fully dressed.

"How are you getting home?" he asked curiously, as Rose stepped into her shoes and made for the door, running her hands through her hair in a vain attempt to neaten it.

"Oh, damn, you can't drive, can you?" She swore with realisation.

"Not since the accident, no." John admitted guiltily.

"Sorry, I forgot." Rose apologised, knowing that John's accident was a delicate subject. "Well, I'll walk then. It's only a few blocks away."

"It's fine, forget it. But let me walk with you, at least?" He offered, but Rose shook her head.

"Oh, no, don't worry." she protested. "Really, I'm fine; I wouldn't want to -"

"I insist! It's the least I can do, considering."

John dropped his bowl into the sink carelessly and walked over to Rose at the door. He slipped his coat and converse on, and opened the door for Rose, who opened her mouth as if to protest again, then thought better of it, and walked out wordlessly.

"I'm sure he's fine." John comforted Rose, as the two walked quickly down the street. "Jamie, I mean. Children run off all the time. He'll probably come home when he's bored."

Rose nodded tearfully. "He's barely even six." she told him, looking straight ahead at the pavement. There was a brief silence as John racked his brain for something comforting to tell her. "I'm sorry about all this." Rose added, looking up guiltily.

"Rose -" John began.

"No, really, I am." insisted Rose. "I had such a great time last night -"

"So did I." John told her. "And this isn't your fault." he added as she went to interrupt. "I'd be glad to help, any way I can. And it's hardly a great inconvenience to walk you home, is it? Besides, what kind of date would I be if I didn't?" he joked.

"Date?" Rose asked abruptly.

"Yeah. Well, I suppose so, anyway." John frowned. "Is that not okay?"

"No!" Rose grinned, despite the circumstances. "No, it's brilliant. I just… never thought I'd be - I mean, I never imagined I'd be 'dating' you." she said, more to herself than John, and grinned more at his confused look. "Never mind." she laughed, then immediately felt guilty. "It's a long story."

"So, have you always lived with your parents?" John asked, sensing he should change the subject.

"Yeah, pretty much." replied Rose. "I mean, I could have a flat of my own, I suppose - it's not like we don't have the money - but…" she paused for a moment, trying to phrase her words right. "I haven't lived here long. Well, it's been five or six years, but it's all still a bit… new. And kind of scary. Sorry, it's complicated."

Guessing that was the end of the conversation, John just nodded and looked straight ahead, oblivious to Rose's reminiscent smile as they walked on.

The two walked in peaceful silence for most of the short journey home, engaging in mundane conversation to keep Rose's mind off Jamie. At the door of the Tyler's mansion, they turned to face each other, neither wanting the door to open.

"Thanks then." Rose said unwillingly. "For everything - last night, this morning. I'll, um…"

"Call me." John told her. "If Jamie comes back, or if you just need someone to talk to, give me a call. You've got my number."

"Right." Rose nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I will. Thanks, again." Reluctantly, she pushed her key into the lock and edged open the door. "Bye then." she said, and leaned forwards nervously, kissing John gently on the lips before dashing into her house.

"Bye!" John called out with a grin, and Rose flashed him a quick smile before closing the door.

For a minute, she just leaned back against the door, smiling happily as she waited for John to walk away from the house. Then, hearing footsteps in the living room, her smile instantly faded and she rushed into the room.

"Mum?" she called as she walked. Jackie stopped pacing the living room and stared at Rose as she entered.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed breathlessly, and placed her mug of coffee carelessly on the coffee table as she ran forward to her daughter's arms, though still clutching the phone with all her strength.

"He's gone!" she said into Rose's shoulder. "I lost him! I've got the police out lookin' for him, and Pete's gone out too, but what if they don't find him? What if he's gone? What if he's-"

"Mum, I'm sure he's fine." Rose interrupted, pulling away, though she didn't believe it herself. "Look, just stay in here, I'll go put the kettle on."

She nodded weakly, wiping away the tears on her mascara-streaked face, and Rose picked up the discarded mug and took it into the kitchen.

Breathing out slowly to calm herself, Rose threw the cold coffee in the bottom of the mug into the sink and flicked the kettle on distractedly.

As the kettle boiled, Rose heard the phone ring briefly, and could only assume that Jackie had picked it up immediately.

"I've got it!" her mother yelled, though the ringing had already ceased. Making her a cup of tea, as Rose sensed Jackie had drunk quite enough coffee today, she strained her ears to listen in on the conversation happening in the next room.

"Yeah, yeah." her mother's muffled voice could be made out. "No, it's - yeah. Oh, my God, yes! Yes, that's him! Oh, thank-you! Is he -? Oh, thank God. Thank-you, thank-you so much!" Rose heard a clatter - presumably the phone had been thrown on the table - and Jackie ran in ecstatically.

"Oh, Rose, they found him!" Jackie cried, smiling with glee. "He's fine, they said; just a bit of a cold! They said he's a bit dazed, and he's been sniffin' a lot, but he okay!"

Pulling Rose into a hug, she bounded out of the room again before she could reply.

Rose smiled with relief and continued making the tea, then remembered John. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she dialled his number and held the phone up to her ear.

"_Hey, John Smith here! Well, not here, actually. I mean, I am here, but not when - well, not right now, for you. Anyway, leave a message, and I'll try to get back to you! Bye!"_

Smiling at the message, Rose stirred the tea subconsciously as she waited for the beep of the answer phone. "Hi, John? It's me - um, Rose. You're probably still walking back right now, but just to say - Jamie's fine. You're probably right, I expect he just ran off. So, just to let you know everything's okay. Uh, thanks again, for yesterday. And… I'll see you Monday, I suppose. Um, bye then, love you!"

Hanging up the phone, she replaced it in her pocket, and added milk to her mother's tea, and it was only when she was halfway to the lounge that she realised how she'd ended the call. Her eyes widened with worry. Why had she said that? They hadn't even said it to each other yet! Hell, they'd only been on one date! Panicking, she considered pulling out her phone and calling him back to say it was a joke, but then thought better of it. Why should she? It was true, wasn't it? If he couldn't handle it - well, she think about that if she found out it was true.

She carried the cup of tea into the living room, where Jackie was calling Pete, and placed it on the table before walking out again. Leaning against the wall, she considered the situation, and smiled.

- - - - - - -

Inside the TARDIS, Martha walked into the console room with a yawn.

"Sorry about last night." she said sheepishly to the room, which whirred quietly in reply. "I didn't mean to flip out, I was just… upset. With the Doctor." She paused thoughtfully. "He had to go and kiss her, didn't her? And now what?" Walking around the consol, she stroked it fondly. "Still, at least you're working better now."

"I never did get to ask him about the watch yesterday." she continued, walking over to the consol's small screen, where blue and mauve foreign symbols flashed up at her angrily.

"Well, that's no use, I can't read Gallifreyan. Can't you translate it?" She received no answer, and sighed. "Fine."

Pressing a few buttons on the consol next to the screen, she managed to get the Doctor's instruction video to show.

After fast-forwarding the tape a little, the Doctor began talking.

"- know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS, I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four- no, wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. Four- you. Don't let me abandon you." he told her, and she paused it angrily.

"That's no good." she yelled at the image of the Doctor. "What about the stuff you didn't tell me, what about women? Oh no, you didn't think of that. What in hell am I supposed to do then?" She fast-forwarded the tape again, this time to the very end.

"Thank-you." the Doctor said, and the tape froze at the end, with the Doctor's face smiling stupidly up at her.

"You had to, didn't you?" she asked the image bitterly. "Had to go and fall in love with a human. And it wasn't me."

- - - - - - -

On Sunday morning, Kate Turner sat on the edge of her bed, stroking the intricate patterns of a fob watch she believed to be Mickey Smith's. Once more, she reached up to the top of the watch, eager to open it. But a sense of foreboding came over her suddenly, and she knew she shouldn't. Then, the voices came again.

"_The darkness is coming…"_ it whispered to her. _"Keep me away from the force and empty man...the last of the Time Lords, the last of a wise and ancient race…"_ Confused and afraid, she threw the watch to the floor with a frown.

And, whether metres or miles away, the Family glanced up to the sky simultaneously, and sniffed. The Doctor was near.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it! Review please!


	11. Not Quite Secret Anymore

Disclaimer: I own Kate. And (kind of) the storyline. And (kind of) Jamie. And that's it. :(

So, today was supposed to be 'the end of the world' or whatever, right? Well, we all survived, so let's celebrate with a chapter.  
_Update: Thank-you to NewDrWhoFan for pointing out my transcription error. It has been corrected._

NTMR:  
-I have become slightly disheartened at the lack of reviewing. Is this because you've stopped reading? Or because it's not worth the trouble?

* * *

**Chapter 11: Not Quite Secret Anymore**

In the staff room on Tuesday morning, Martha stood on her own by the coffee machine, oblivious to anything but her own thoughts. She was brought back to the room by the door slamming shut behind Suzie as she entered the room with a long sniff. Snapping back to life, she poured herself a mug of coffee and sat down at a table near the window of the room.

"You okay?" she asked Suzie, who paused for a moment before walking in casually.

"Yeah, thanks." she replied, sauntering over to the table and sitting opposite Martha. "Must have a cold comin' on." she explained, and Martha smiled sympathetically.

"I keep thinking about them, but I don't know what to do." Martha told her, as if continuing a long running conversation.

"Thinking about who?" Suzie asked expressionlessly.

"John and Miss Tyler." Martha explained shortly. "'Cause it's never gonna last, he's gonna leave in a few weeks."

"Why?" Suzie asked, suddenly interested.

"It's like his contract comes to an end. And she's gonna be heartbroken."

"Leave for where?" Suzie asked.

"All sorts of places!" Martha told her excitedly. "I wish I could tell you, Suzie, but it's complicated."

"In what way?"

"It just is." Martha said vaguely.

"It sounds so interesting." she continued persistently. "Tell me. Tell me now."

Frowning at Suzie's sudden interest in John, Martha looked down at her mug. "D'you want a coffee?" she asked, to change the subject of the conversation.

"Yes, thanks." Suzie replied distractedly, and Martha stood up and walked over to the coffee pot.

"I could use one of these new posh ones." Martha began, unsure. "Or… I could put some gravy in the pot. Or sardines and jam, how about that?"

"I like the sound of that." Suzie said, and Martha raised her eyebrows and edged towards the door.

"Right." she said weakly, quietly opening the door while Suzie still had her back to her. "Hold on a tick."

She opened the door and walked calmly out of the room, reached the stairs and pelted up them to John's office. As she ran at full speed up the stairs, a shot of green flew past her in the deserted stairwell and singed away a portion of the white banister. This had gotten out of control. She needed the Doctor.

- - - - - - -

Suzie smirked as she re-entered the empty staff room. Closing her eyes, a green light glowed around her, and she could suddenly see her family.

Husband of Mine, in the form of a shop worker, headed towards a cupboard, and shut the door before the same green glow enveloped him.

"_The Doctor is near."_ She heard his voice. _"__In London. I can sense him.__"_

"The John Smith man is important." she informed him. Martha Jones speaks of him. She knows us. We must find them. Son of Mine, what does Jamie Tyler know of the Doctor and Rose Tyler?"

Son of Mine, in Jamie Tyler's form, could be seen in an empty bathroom at the boy's school.

"_The child is told of them from a Mickey Smith.__"_ he said emptily, accessing Jamie's memories to gather the information. _"__He is told that__…__ Rose Tyler once travelled with a Doctor.__"_

"The same Doctor?" Suzie asked them. "Martha Jones also spoke, to Suzie, of travelling with John."

"_Then is it possible that John Smith is the man we search for?"_ Jamie's voice rand out.

"_If so, our course of action is simple.__"_ stated Jeffrey simply, in the Henrik's store cupboard. _"__We must find John Smith.__"_

- - - - - - -

As laughter died away into a comfortable silence, Ianto stood up and reached for his mug.

"I'm gonna go make some more coffee. You want some?" he asked John and Rose with a strong Welsh accent, and they both handed over their mugs gratefully.

"Mmm, please." John nodded appreciatively, as did Rose.

Ianto took the cups with a smile and headed to the back of the room. John looked at Rose and grinned, wandering over to her desk, where she was sat with her feet up on the table, not working. Looking around, he frowned at Ianto's sudden absence.

"Where did… Where did he go?!" he asked Rose, bewildered.

Rose laughed. "How can you have been working up here for over a month and not even realise we had a coffee room?" she giggled, and John perched himself on the desk, turning his nose up indignantly.

"Not fair - I'd never set foot up here before the accident, and it's not like I've had much time to look around!"

"John, we haven't had a case for two and a half weeks." Rose deadpanned back, and he opened his mouth to give a sarcastic reply, but couldn't think of one. Rose giggled again, and he merely leant down and kissed her, smiling as he pulled away.

"What time am I picking you up tonight?" he asked her, staring straight into her eyes.

"I dunno." Rose muttered, too absorbed in John's chocolate brown eyes to listen. "Sixish? I dunno when it's supposed to start."

John leant back, and Rose flopped back into her chair lazily.

"Sixish it is, then." John said cheerily, giving her a huge grin before returning to his own desk, a few metres away, and mirroring Rose's laid-back position.

"So, I've read some more of your Journal." Rose began, smiling, and John looked up.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's… interesting." she smirked. "So, you're really a Time Lord, and you're only here to escape these aliens who want your lifespan?"

John smiled, embarrassed. "Well, not _really_." he said casually, and he winked at her cheekily before turning back to his desk.

Leaning back as far as he could on his chair, he looked back at Rose as he attempted to take his hands away from the desk, and hold himself up by just two chair legs. She snorted at him as he nearly fell back, but undeterred, he let go of the table once more. He was managing to stay upright fairly well, before the door of the office was thrust open and slammed, and Martha Jones dashed into the office breathlessly. The chair fell back to the floor and John topple onto the floor with wide, worried eyes. Picking himself up and attempting to seem unconcerned by this, he walked over to Rose and looked up to see who had entered.

"They've found us." Martha burst out before he could speak.

"Martha, this is getting ridiculous!" John frowned at her, but she seemed not to hear. Instead, she hurried over to the desk at the far end of the room that once occupied Mickey's belongings.

"Martha!" Rose exclaimed, surprised at the secretary's actions.

"They've found us," she continued, oblivious. "And I've seen them - they look like people, like us, like normal. I'm sorry, but you've got to open the watch."

Rummaging around through the desk drawers, she stopped to look at John.

"Where is it?" she asked him frustratedly. When he looked blankly at her, she began to panic.

"Oh, my God, where's it gone? Where's the watch?" she asked him again, only wishing she'd asked him about it when she'd last come up.

"What are you talking about?" John asked her with a frown, shaking his head in confusion.

Martha took a step forward and calmed herself. "You had a watch, a fob watch, right there. But it disappeared. I thought you had it!"

"Did I?" John asked, ignoring the latter half of the speech. "I don't remember."

"I dunno why it matters to you." Rose added resentfully.

"But we need it…" Martha continued, ignoring Rose's comment. "Oh, my God, Doctor, we're hiding. From aliens. And they've got Suzie, and they've... possessed her or copied her or something, and you've got to tell me, where's the watch?"

Rose snorted with laughter. "I'm sorry, but… Well, this is a joke, right?" she grinned, and Martha frowned at her coldly. "I mean - you're not serious?" She looked to John, bemused. "She's talking about your Journal. The Doctor, remember? He's 'hiding from aliens' too." John stared at her blankly and her smile faded. "John? We were talking about it, just now. Don't you remember?"

"Right!" John said suddenly, snapping back to life. "Yes!" He looked to Martha. "Um, Martha, I don't know where you heard about my dreams, but… Well, they're what we call stories." he said slowly, as if talking to a small child. She simply glared up at him. "Look, I'm so sorry, this must be so confusing for you. Rose and I, _we_'re the Torchwood agents." he told her with wide eyes, as if this would help her understand. "You and I, we're just friends. We're not on the run from aliens, and we're not travelling together. I'm very sorry." he told her sincerely.

"Oh, you complete…" Martha started angrily. "_This_ - is not you." she told him crossly, waving her hands over his body. "_This_ - is 2013."

"Good, Martha, this -"

"Hang on!" Rose interrupted John as he tried to explained the situation to Martha. "You said 2013. It's 2011."

"It can't be 2011. Suzie said it's been five years since Torchwood started, and I -" she broke off abruptly. "Whatever, forget it. Fine, it's 2011."

"Alright, but still, you said 2011." Rose insisted. "No one says that here. They - we, I mean - we say 20-point-11. Why -"

"Whatever! This is '20-point-11' then! Happy?" Martha yelled out, exasperated, and Rose flinched.

"Now, Martha, really -" John began, stepping in front of Rose protectively as Martha edged forward. She let out a groan of annoyance.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but I've gotta snap you out of this." Martha spat at John, and after a pause, she raised her hand and slapped John right across the face. Taken aback, Rose flinched again as the Doctor was thrown slightly to the side from the force.

"Martha!" Rose cried with shock, but she wasn't listening.

"Wake up!" she shouted at John, grabbing his left arm as his right hand flew to his cheek where Martha had slapped him. "You're coming back to the TARDIS with me!"

"How - How dare you!" John exclaimed, pulling his arm out of her grip and stumbling back. "I'm not going anywhere with an insane… temp! Martha, you are not authorised to be up here, and you will leave this floor immediately! Now get out!" he told her in his most authoritative voice, leading her towards the door. Rubbing his bruised cheek, he closed the door behind her and walked back over to Rose.

"Nerve of it!" he exclaimed to Rose, annoyed. "Absolute cheek! You think I'm a fantasist, what about her?"

Rose smiled at John, slightly taken aback at Martha's outburst, then frowned. "Well, you did have a fob watch. In the hospital? You kept it on Mickey's desk - God knows why - then it disappeared? Don't you remember?"

John didn't answer, wracking his brain for any recollection of the watch.

"What the _hell_ was that about?" came a voice from the far side of the room, and John and Rose both turned around to see Ianto, holding a tray with three mugs on it, and wearing a completely bemused and bewildered look on his usually cheery face.

Rose looked to him, who was staring, confused, at the spot in which Martha's outburst had occurred, and then she looked to John, who was still rubbing his sore cheek with a grim look upon his face, and could only do one thing. She gave a fake stutter of laughter, and collapsed down into her chair as her knees gave way, a half-faked fit of laughter flooding from her lips. She did this partly because, for reasons unbeknownst to her, she suddenly found the whole situation hilarious, and partly to cover up her nervousness, but for the most part, she covered her shaking face with her hands to mask the emotion, for fear of it giving away her uneasiness about her new love.

- - - - - - -

Kate entered her office after lunch wearily, just longing for the day to come to an end. Groaning with hatred as she saw the mound of paperwork in a pile on her desk, she dragged herself over to it and slumped into the chair. As much as she wanted this position, she didn't know how much more paperwork she could take.

Throwing one file to the side to rifle through the rest, it collided with her desk organiser, which flew to the floor. Sighing with tiredness, she bent over to pick up her belongings, and placed them carelessly back onto her desk without much thought. At the bottom of the pile was the fob watch, and she picked it up with mild interest.

Standing back up, with the fob watch in her hand, something caught her eye outside the window. She walked over, still clutching the watch, and saw four figures outside the building, on the bottom floor. She recognised one of the figures as a secretary from Torchwood, and she knew that the boy was the youngest Tyler's child, Jamie. They stood beside a teenage girl and an old man, both of whom she didn't recognise, and the four stood still, staring up at the building, with expressionless faces.

Kate frowned, and thought nothing of it, until she felt her hands suddenly burning. Gasping, she let the watch fall back to the floor and looked at her hands. They were red, but not badly burnt. She looked down at the watch on the floor. A mystical golden glow had surrounded it, giving off a faint hissing sound and an enormous amount of heat. She looked back out the window. The four figures were still stood in front of the building, but they were now looking up, to one specific spot on the skyscraper: her office.

Shocked, she stepped back with wide eyes, and glanced down to the watch. It was no longer glowing, but she could still hear the eerie whistling emitting from it. Bending down, she touched the watch cautiously, but it was stone cold. She picked it up gingerly and raised it to her ear. It wasn't just a sound, they were voices. The watch was whispering to her again.

Finally, her curiosity took over, and, holding her breath with anticipation, Kate pressed down on the button at the top of the watch. The engraved watch lid flew open, and where Kate expected to see an old watch face, the soft golden light she had seen before flowed from out of it. Her jaw fell slightly open as she gazed into the golden swirls of light, and they flew forward in wisps of gold, beckoning her closer.

"_Time Lord…"_ Kate heard, and she swallowed nervously. Suddenly, a sense of foreboding came upon her, and she snapped the watch shut instantly. Staggering up unevenly, she lurched over to the window and stared outside. The figures had gone.

- - - - - - -

Near the Torchwood building, just out of sight, the Family considered their plan.

"There are two scents." Helena's voice supplied. "It is the watch. It is important somehow."

"Then so is the woman." Jamie added nastily.

"Children of Mine, our main focus remains the Doctor." Suzie reminded them, her voice plain and emotionless.

"But perhaps the watch is linked, Wife of Mine." Jeffrey informed her. He looked to Helena's form. "Daughter of Mine, you will retrieve the watch." Helena's mouth twisted into a sinister grin, and she nodded in confirmation. "Son of Mine, find out more of the boy's sister, Rose Tyler. She holds valuable information."

"Husband of Mine," Suzie began strongly. "We have only a scattered scent. If John Smith is truly the Doctor -"

"The scent is enough. Once we have the watch, we will have control of the scent. Wife of Mine, we will search John Smith's base. There must be clues there."

"We have all scented him though." Jamie's small voice was heard, brisk and clear. "He was plain and simple human."

Suzie appeared to consider this. "The secretary was definitely hiding something. A secret around this Mr Smith. Maybe he knows something."

"But we have little time, Father of Mine." Helena said impatiently. "This form already grows weak with my consciousness."

"Do not fear, Daughter of Mine." Jeffrey spoke with a sinister grin. "We will find the Doctor. And he shall give us all the time in the world."

* * *

Hope you liked it! Review please! Seriously, I got a hundred-odd hits to chapter 10, and only two of you reviewed? Come on, let me know what you think!!

_Update 2: I have had a few reviews to argue that Rose should have twigged by now. I assure you, she does know (ish) what's going on, even if it hasn't yet been written in. She's not stupid, and I know that. It is actually part of the plot, but I understand that it doesn't make much sense right now._


	12. Not Quite A Peaceful Dinner: Part 1

Disclaimer: For the sake of this story, I "own" the characters and the storyline of Human Nature / Family of Blood. But I'll give them back after, I promise.

Here, have an update.  
I know some of you didn't think I wrote the last chapter especially well (and to be frank, I agree), so I hope you find this one better. It clears up a lot, like why Rose was acting weird in the last chapter. Enjoy!

NTMR:  
-Thanks for all the reviews. I agree partly with what you said about Rose, and I don't think I wrote it very well. I have gone back and re-written the last section of the confrontation scene - it doesn't change anything, but I'm much happier with it now.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Not Quite A Peaceful Dinner (Part 1)**

Rose brushed her fingers through her hair again and turned back to face the mirror nervously, studying her appearance. The faint trill of the doorbell sounded out through the house, and Rose turned sharply to look at the ajar door. She looked up at the clock on her wall and grinned. It was 6 o'clock exactly.

Checking her appearance in the mirror one last time, she threw open the door and dashed down the stairs.

"We have maids for a reason, you know!" her mothers voice echoed down the stairs, but she didn't laugh or reply as she usually would. She was too nervous for that.

Once at the door, she leant back against it, hands shaking and palms sweating. A maid, emerging from the kitchen to open the door, bowed her head and turned back away, but Rose didn't notice.

She had to be ready. She needed to focus on her task. If she gave in now, she could never confront him - she could never look at John Smith again.

Her parents voices could be heard distantly from their room.

"D'you think Jamie's okay?" Jackie was asking Pete, for the umpteenth time. Pete chuckled back.

"Darlin', this ain't the first time we've left him with the nanny. He's not gonna run off again, don't worry."

The voices faded out as Rose made her decision. After all John had done for her, after all that had happened, she owed him this. She had to find out what was going on. She couldn't go on pretending - it wasn't fair to either of them.

Words from the afternoon's events flew around her mind, echoing and increasing in volume, like a never-ending nightmare. She closed her eyes tightly as the ring of the doorbell trilled out in her ears, willing the secretary's voices away as her eyes prickled with forbidden tears.

"_Where's the watch?"_

"_Doctor, we're hiding."_

"This_ - is not you."_

"_Fine, it's 2011."_

"_You're coming back to the TARDIS with me!"_

She forced her eyes open and let out a deep breath of relief, as the last echo of reality burst around her. The kitchen maid was standing nervously in front of her, hand outstretched to the door. As she saw Rose's eyes snap open, she backed away, frightened.

"Sorry Miss." she murmured, and rushed back into the kitchen. Rose turned to face the door, breathing calmly. She had known what to do since this afternoon; since she had excused herself from work and rushed out of the office, leaving a poor, confused John to explain what he didn't know was happening to the bemused Ianto.

She just had to wait until the moment was right. She'd been planning it all afternoon. Wait until John was comfortable, wait until he didn't know what to believe, then find out what was going on.

In her moments of - what Rose hated to call them - love, she had overlooked the truth. For one month, she had left the Doctor on Bad Wolf Bay, and crossed the ocean to a new life. A life where she had love, and normality, and where the Doctor was just a story of the past. But when Martha had brought her back to reality in the office, the truth had been revealed to her, and she had realised just how blind love was.

The third loud trill of the doorbell brought her back to the hallway, where she was stood with an outstretched arm to the door. Forcing a smile onto her face, she opened the door and came face to face with her date for the evening.

"Hi!" she said cheerily, though dreading the evening ahead, and he smiled back.

"I was beginning to think you'd gone to dinner without me." he grinned at her, then glanced down at her long silk dress, outlining her body intimately and showing off her figure.

"Wow. You look - brilliant. Absolutely gorgeous." he said adoringly, and her smile dropped for a second at John's choice of words. But then he leant forward and kissed her gently on the lips, and all her fears and worries floated away for a second. When she pulled away, she looked down at John's outfit, and had to suppress a nervous laugh as she saw his formal black tuxedo, fitted loosely but still showing his thin shape as he stood up straight and held out his arm for Rose to take. Forcing the smile back on her face, she turned back to the stairs and called up to her parents.

"Mum? We're goin' now, all right?"

"Who are?" Jackie called back down, staying inside her room as she studied her appearance in her mirror.

"Me an' John!" Rose shouted back incredulously.

"You're goin' with John?" Jackie asked, coming to the banister of the stairs. "Are you -"

"Bye mum!" Rose interrupted, wincing at her mother's half sentence. Walking out to John, she closed the door behind her hurriedly and breathed out steadily in the cool evening air.

- - - - - - -

As John and Rose approached the restaurant, the uneven silence between the couple seemed to die away, and they exchanged happy glances between John's stories, Rose attempting to mask the confusion and worry in her eyes.

They reached the restaurant door, and Rose pulled her security pass out of her bag. John fished around in his pocket while she flashed it to the security guard standing in front of the mahogany door.

"Evening, Miss." he said statically, and moved to let her past. John attempted to follow, but the guard stopped him.

"Sorry Sir, staff only." he told John, who was still rooting around in his pocket.

"Goodness," he smiled to Rose, who was waiting behind the security guard for John to be let in, whilst replacing her card I her purse. "It's like these things are bigger on the inside!"

Rose's stomach lurched as the words were spoken, and she barely realised what was happening as John was allowed in. As he led her over to her parents' table, she looked straight ahead and avoided his gaze. She only looked up when she noticed her parents.

"Mum, dad?" she frowned, ignoring John by her side. "How'd you get here before us?"

"We we're driven!" Jackie laughed. "After six years, how can you keep forgettin' we've got limos?"

John frowned now. "I thought you'd been here five years?" he asked, and Rose winced.

"No, we - I mean, I - got here about six years ago. It's been five years since I… knew I was staying." Rose replied shortly, trying not to think about the day she stood on the beach in Norway with a man identical to John. "We only live a few blocks away!" she directed at Jackie, who laughed airily as she drank from her wine glass casually.

"You're never gonna get used to this whole 'being rich' thing, are you?"

"Hello darlin'." Pete smiled at her, and she smiled weakly back. "Listen, you two can either eat here with me and your mother, or you can sit with Kate and Jake -"

"Jake's here?" Rose asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, he's just back from the Himalayas yesterday, and I asked if he wanted to come along." Pete told her.

"We'll sit with them then." Rose told them, and turned away, searching the room for Jake. She heard her mother mutter "Oh, charming," as she led John over to where she had spotted Jake, and threw herself into her friend's arms as he stood up.

"Jake!" she cried, laughing as they parted. "It's so great to see you!"

John sat down at the table as Rose and Jake seated themselves next to each other. "How are you? What've you been up to? And how'd the mission go?" Rose asked him, overcome with happiness at seeing her friend again. Then her face fell. "Oh, did you hear, about…?"

She didn't need to finish the question. "Yeah." Jake replied quietly. "How're you doing?" Rose shrugged. "Come on, he was your best mate."

"He was yours too!" Rose smiled nervously, faint memories of Jake, Mickey and herself drifting through her mind. "But I'm okay." she insisted. "Actually, I'm… really okay. I mean, I miss him, so much, but… I'm doin' better than I thought I would."

Jake smiled. "Anyway, I'm fine, and the mission went great. All sorted." he told her, shaking the thought of Mickey from his mind. He looked past her to John, who was straightening out the cutlery by either side of his plate.

"Is that -" he began, alarmed.

"John Smith." Rose interrupted firmly. "Yeah. He's new to our department." she told him pointedly, and John looked up. Now wasn't the right time to come clean, she told herself.

"Hello!" John said cheerily, and reached his hand across the table for Jake to shake, while Rose turned her head away from him, avoiding his eyes at all costs.

"Uh, hi." Jake replied nervously, taking his hand and shaking it. "Jake Simmonds." He released John's hand and looked to Rose. "But, is he -?"

"Yeah." Rose cut him off, deciding that it couldn't hurt for one more person to know what she assumed was the truth. "Uh, he is… a field agent, yeah." she covered up, and turned around to John with a smile, looking just inches away from his right ear.

- - - - - - -

Kate smoothed down the fabric of her skirt distractedly as she stroked the symbols on the watch with her other hand. The cool evening breeze wafted around her as she waited for her taxi, and all she could think about was the watch. Why couldn't she forget it? Why did she bring it? What even was it?

She shivered as a harsh wind blew around her, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders, and stared awestruck and enchanted at the watch as the familiar golden glow flooded out of the gap, begging to be opened and found. A car slowed to a stop beside her, and she slipped the warm watch into her pocket as she stepped hurriedly into the taxi.

- - - - - - -

Rose took another sip of her wine as Jake finished off the last of his beer and sighed, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. John took the seconds of silence as an opportune moment to leave, and pressed a hand gently on Rose's shoulder as he stood.

"I'm just gonna get another drink." he told her. "D'you want one?"

"No thanks." Rose answered, risking a look around. She felt tears well up inside her as she looked into his eyes and thought about what she would have to do later.

"Jake?" John asked, oblivious to her pain.

"Yeah, I'll have another beer, thanks." he replied, grinning, but his grin faded as John turned his back and walked away, and Jake turned his head to look at Rose, scrutinising her for any sign of emotion.

"What?" Rose asked, setting her drink down on the table. "When's this supposed to start anyway, I'm starving." Jake continued to stare at her. "And d'you know where Kate is? Did you hear, she's getting pro- What?!" she cried when he didn't move his gaze, and he raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.

"'John Smith'?"

She faltered. "Oh, right. That." she took a deep breath, casting a glance to where John was queuing in the line for drinks. "Look - it's not - I mean, I don't - if he's…" she looked down, frowning. "Oh, I dunno what's going on." she said truthfully, with tears prickling in her eyes. "He - he's not the Doctor. He don't think like him, or talk like him, or laugh like him, or dress like him. But… he _must_ be the Doctor. I mean, look at him!"

Jake smiled sadly. "When you first came here… Mickey had a copy. A parallel version. Maybe the Doctor has one too?" he suggested, but Rose shook her head.

"That's what I thought." she told him. "But he's only got one heart. An' he doesn't think he's a Time Lord. An' he's just…" she trailed off again. "I think I love him." she said, a single tear wetting her soft cheek. She noted a few people turning to look, but couldn't hold her thoughts in any longer. "I mean, I always loved the Doctor, but he never loved me back. This one can. This one does."

Jake placed his hand over Rose's and squeezed it gently. "It's gonna be okay, Rose." he said quietly, sparing a glance to the Doctor look-a-like edging closer to the drinks bar by the minute. "Everything's gonna be okay."

- - - - - - -

The jagged movements of Jeffrey Wilson were silhouettes against the dim lighting of the building at night. His form, along with that of Suzie Costello's, moved hastily up the dark stairwells towards the office on the top floor.

"John Smith works up here, alongside Rose Tyler." Suzie was informing Jeffrey, barely scratching the surface of her memories to access the details. "Perhaps there are clues to his identity here."

The two pushed open the doors to the office with more strength than required, and began throwing the objects inside the room with little interest. Desks were overturned and emptied, their contents strewn across the floor as useless paperwork was found.

Minutes later, their patience had worn thin. Suzie stood abruptly, her hand to her head as she scraped through the woman's mind.

"Wait." she called to Jeffrey's form. "Upstairs. Suzie wonders about it often. It is… forbidden." Her lips curled into a sinister smile at the last word, and Jeffrey too straightened up and headed for the doors.

- - - - - - -

"Locked." Suzie snapped when the door refused to open.

"Step aside. Jeffrey said coldly, and Suzie did so unwillingly. Jeffrey drew his hands back and pulled a large gun from his jacket. Aiming it lazily at the lock, he blasted it off, leaving nothing but a hole as he kicked the door open. He staggered in, and Suzie followed, but the two stopped dead as they saw the wall opposite them. Tacked to the white paint, with scribbles around the side, was a scruffy image of John Smith, wearing a brown pinstripe suit and a long brown coat. A long strip of paper was stuck underneath it, and in thick black marker pens were scrawled two simple words. _'The Doctor'_.

Jeffrey's lips formed a cruel, twisted smile. He turned to Suzie, his eyebrows raised in amusement. "It turned out our John Smith has a few secrets of his own." he told Suzie, and she let out a cold laugh as she studied the image with a creepy delight.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it! Was it better than the last chapter? Worse? The same? Incomparable?

Part 2 will be along shortly, just because I'm having such a great time writing it!


	13. Not Quite A Peaceful Dinner: Part 2

Disclaimer: For once, I don't care that these aren't mine! The BBC can keep them, just as long as they let me write FanFic!

I. LOVE. This. Chapter. And the next chapter. No, really, I love them. I just hope you do too.

NTMR:  
-Thanks again for the reviews! Review again! More, more, more! Yay! (Yeah, I'm hyper.)

* * *

**Chapter 13: Not Quite A Peaceful Dinner (Part 2)**

Kate emerged from the taxi, hastily checking her watch as she thrust the money at the taxi driver and walked quickly towards the door of the restaurant. Amongst the bushes, the form of a young girl could be made out, watching intensely as the car rolled away. Faint laughter and music could be heard from within the large restaurant, and the girl could hear only the distant grumblings of the woman as she fumbled in her purse for her security pass.

She saw as Kate reached her hand into the bag, and pull it back again as if scolded. She turned away from the security guard and pulled out a small, golden object. Her face was bathed in the glow, but she seemed frightened by the object. Suddenly, a gust of wind lifted the teenager's hair around her face, and a whisper sounded out through the dark evening.

"_Danger…_" the voice said, and Helena looked around instinctively for a source to the sound. Kate seemed immersed in the item, but looked up for a second to see the figure hiding in the bushes. Helena breathed in sharply through her nose. She could sense him. She could smell the Time Lord.

Slipping the now still object into her pocket, she backed away to the door, pulled out her security pass, and stumbled through the door and into the building.

When Kate was let in, Helena stood from her position and crept around the building to the staff entrance. Glancing around expertly, she pushed brambles and branches out of the way and slipped into the ajar door. To her left, steam was clouding wildly in the kitchen, but through a hatch to her right, she could see the events unfolding in the main restaurant area.

Helena spotted several men and women standing by a table overflowing with drinks, and glared conspicuously at the man she recognised as John Smith, standing far back in the line to the table.

Glancing casually over the room, she watched as her target, Kate, staggered into the room nervously, her mind elsewhere. She started towards a table where Rose and Jake were talking seriously, then seemed to wince and head for the opposite side of the room instead. As she walked, she knocked into a dark skinned, dark haired woman, who was making her way towards Rose's table. Muttering an apology, she briskly walked out towards the door leading to the bathrooms.

Kate disregarded the event, and her eyes scanned over the room until they feel upon a boy. Jamie was hidden well, in the far corner of the room where no one would think to look. He crouched on a chair behind some drapes, covered by the material, but able to oversee all the activity in the hall.

Helena suddenly sensed a calling, and ducked far out of sight as a warm green glow bathed her face.

"_Good news, children._" came Jeffrey's voice in her mind. "_We have found the Doctor. It is the John Smith man._"

"_He is disguised, somehow._" Suzie's harsh voice sounded. "_What is his location?_"

"_He is present at the Torchwood dinner. So is the watch lady._" Jamie's voice sounded, clearer than the previous two voices. Now Helena spoke up.

"_I shall retrieve the watch._" she spoke telepathically, and stood up as the green light subsided.

Helena stood proudly and followed the corridor around until she could just make out Kate's head as the woman ducked behind a crate.

"Coward." Helena whispered sharply.

- - - - - - -

Kate had entered the restaurant timidly after hearing the words of warning from the watch. Deciding she should inform Rose, who was unofficially in charge of alien artefacts, she had headed over to the woman's table, but a sense of foreboding had come over her, and she had hurried off out of the room instead. As she forced herself towards the toilets, however, a secretary she recognised from Torchwood had bumped into her accidentally. With the watch in her hand and worry on her mind, she hadn't realised what was happening, but moments later she found herself in daylight. Beams of sunlight shone down on her from the sky - strangely clear of zeppelins. Martha, in jeans and a red jacket, had come flying past her, knocking into her as she had just done.

"Martha?" Kate asked uneasily, before a flash of white light enveloped her and she was dragged back to the restaurant. Staring meekly at Martha, she muttered an apology and almost ran out of the room.

- - - - - - -

Martha didn't notice as Kate crashed into her. She had already turned away when, moments later, the woman stuttered "Sorry" and ran out of the room. Overlooking this, she walked hurriedly to the table she was aiming for.

Rose looked up from the table when she felt someone standing behind her. Her entire body sank with dread when she saw the person standing by her table.

"Please, don't." Rose willed Martha. "Not again." She didn't know if she could still confront John after another explanation from this woman.

"He's different from any other man you've ever met, right?" Martha walked round to stand in front of Rose.

"Yes." Rose whispered, hoping that Martha would leave, but eager to find out the truth.

"And sometimes he says these strange things, like people and places you've never heard of, yeah?" Martha continued. Rose swallowed her anxiousness and braced herself. "But it's deeper than that. Sometimes when you look in his eyes you know - you just know that there's something else in there. Something hidden. Right behind the eyes, something hidden away. In the dark."  
Rose almost laughed at the irony. Here was this Martha woman, presumably the Doctor's latest companion, attempting to explain the Doctor to the one person who knew him best. She was about to speak up when she backed out.

"I don't know what you mean." Rose shrugged, avoiding the woman's eyes as she sat down at the chair next to Rose's.

"Yes, you do." Martha insisted. "I don't mean to be rude, but the awful thing is… it doesn't even matter what you think." Rose felt her heart sink. "But you're nice. And you're lucky. And I just wanted to say sorry for what I'm about to do."

Now Rose looked up, straight into Martha's eyes and saw her regret. The sadness, the loneliness in her colleague's face was clear.

"What do you -"

"Oh, now really, Martha." John interrupted, placing the two glasses of beer on the table and placing his hand on his hip. "This getting out of hand; I must insist that you leave."

He didn't notice Martha pulling something out of her suit pocket. He only looked down when he saw Rose's tearful eyes staring at Martha's hands.

"D'you know what this is?" she asked calmly, lifting the sonic screwdriver a few inches into the air. "Name it. Go on, name it."

"John?" Rose breathed, trying not to let her emotion sound in her voice. "What is it, John?"

John pulled the item out of Martha's hands and caressed it with his fingers, running the long, coarse body of the object through his hands with wonder.

"You're not John Smith." Martha told him, and Rose felt her heart beat again. "You're called the Doctor." John didn't look up from the object, continuing to run it through his fingers as if that would explain what it was. Rose stared into his eyes as he frowned, mentally begging and pleading with him to remember who he was as her heartbeat steadily increased. "The man in your journal, he's real." Martha was saying, almost excitedly. "He's you."

Now, John looked up. "Now, Martha," he began, but Rose stood up and he silenced.

"John." she began pointedly. "Listen to her."

John's eyes widened. "What? But, Rose, you can't - you can't think - I mean, look at this thing!" he threw the sonic screwdriver onto the table with disgust. Rose felt her eyes prickle with tears.

"But you know it, John." she said firmly, through gritted teeth. "You know what it is." Her vision blurred slightly, but she instinctively blinked back the oncoming tears.

"I do not, I honestly do -"

"You do." Martha spoke softly.

"John, your journal." Rose pleaded him, begging him to remember and be the man she needed. "You wrote about it. Your 'magic wand'. Remember?"

"Look, whether or not I wrote about some silly little object is - is neither here nor there." John said, backing away. Rose looked around and noticed several tables glancing their way, but didn't care. "Rose, you - you can't believe this?"

Rose looked down at the table. The moment had finally come. She heard Martha talking, trying to convince John of who he really was, but all she could hear was her own heartbeat pounding against her chest.

"…and I know you know what it is, so who are you kidding?!" Martha was saying, as her frustrated voice faded back into Rose's mind. "John, listen to me. You - are - the - Doc-tor." she spelled out for him, and as John furrowed his eyebrows and looked helplessly to Rose, she knew this was her moment. She looked up, into his hollow brown eyes, and prayed he would forgive her someday, and that she would forgive herself for losing him.

"It's true."

* * *

-freaks out- Woohoo! What's going to happen next?? And what's Rose on about?? I already know! Haha! Review please!


	14. Not Quite The Whole Truth

Disclaimer: So... Sarah J's back on Monday. I hate that show. If any companion should have a spinoff, should it not be Rose? Trust me, if I owned it, she would.

Yay, my other favourite chappie. Don't hate me for Jamie. In fact, this fast update should negate all your hate, so... yeah... enjoy!

NTMR:  
-Not many reviews for chapter 13, but oh well. Here's the update you all asked for!

* * *

**Chapter 14: Not Quite The Whole Truth**

John looked to Rose with horror. "What?!" he asked with shock. "Rose, you cannot believe this - this insane -"

"John, listen to us." Rose spoke over him, gathering confidence now that she'd begun. She stepped forwards and held her hand out to John. Instinctively, she reached out and pressed her hand onto his chest, where his steady one heart was beating rhythmically, almost in time with her own. Then she faltered, her mind blanking, and spoke the only thing she could think to say.

"It's me." she said softly. "I'm Rose." Both Martha and John looked sharply to Rose, John looking with confusion and Martha gaping as something clicked into place.

"I know that you're Rose!" John exclaimed, pushing Rose's hand away.

"No, I'm _your_ Rose." Rose told him slowly, calmly, though she felt anything but that. "The Doctor's Rose. The girl you dreamt about is real." She shook her head apologetically. "She's me."

"But - but this is absurd!" John protested.

"No! It's not." Martha said with a faint glee. "It's - it's just… Oh, my God, it really is! It's really you. You're his Rose, you're the Doctor's Rose!" she cried ecstatically, repeating what Rose had stated moments before. "I knew it! Right when I first saw you, I thought - but no." Martha's face fell. "It can't be. You're dead."

"What are you two talking about?" John demanded, cutting off Martha's revelations.

"John, I -" Rose began, but broke off mid-sentence as she noticed the entire restaurant turning towards the drapes in the corner of the hall.

Rose looked over to them with a frown, and Martha and John followed suit. A faint green glow was glaring through the opening of the drapes. A woman at the table closet to the curtains stood up uneasily, and walked towards them.

Behind the drapes, oblivious to the fact that his hiding place was no longer secure, Jamie glimmered in the green light.

"Now!" he spoke to his family, silent to the room around him. "The time is right!"

- - - - - - -

Jeffrey and Suzie walked briskly but calmly towards the restaurant entrance.

"Staff pass please, Sir, Ma'am." the security guard asked, almost politely.

The two adults shared amused smirks for a moment, and then Jeffrey reached into his pocket. He drew out his gun and shot the man without a second thought.

- - - - - - -

Kate stumbled up to the window, oblivious to Helena watching her behind the door. She pushed herself up off the crate and pulled back the blinds of the window. Four or five shop mannequins were glaring through the window at her, their blank faces devoid of emotion or feeling. She lurched away from the window and ducked behind the crate, afraid. After a moment, she crawled back up to the window and pulled the blinds back again. The dummy's were gone.

Helena saw the mannequins behind the window and grinned, satisfied. She crept quickly towards the main hall of the restaurant and slipped in unnoticed.

- - - - - - -

The woman tapped the drapes nervously, and nothing happened. The green glow suddenly disappeared, and she shrank back, then gathered up the courage to pull back the long curtain.

"Jamie!" Jackie cried, as the boy toppled off the stool. Instead of running towards his mother, however, the boy stood up silently and remained in the same spot.

Just as Jackie stood to call Jamie over again, she shrieked loudly. The door to Rose's immediate left had been thrust opened, and two figures had stormed in, the man deliberately throwing a chair onto the floor as he walked forwards with a gun in his hand.

"There will be **silence**!" Jeffrey shouted, but most of the guests merely screamed or yelled out and moved away. Rose and John stood up from their table by the door, moving steadily back to the front of the group of Torchwood workers. "I said **silence**!" he repeated firmly and loudly. This time, the noise lowered to noting, and everyone turned to look at the pair. At the doors, more people appeared to follow in, but they weren't people, but mannequins. The creatures stood behind Jeffrey and Suzie, awaiting command. Helena walked proudly of to the two people, ignoring the hands grasping at her and voices murmuring in the background. She took her place by their side and glared into the crowd.

"What is going on?!" a man demanded, walking forward from the kitchen in a suit. "Mr Wilson, is it? Look, this is my restaurant, and I demand -" he was cut off as Jeffrey turned towards him with the gun.

A beam shot from the weapon into the man's chest, and he screamed out with pain. Rose blinked instinctively, and turned away. When she looked back, the man had disappeared. In his place, there lay a small heap of grey ash on the carpeted floor. Rose gasped with horror and Martha raised a hand to her mouth. All around her, people shrieked and turned away, but John seemed unfazed, merely angry.

"Mr Smith," Martha tugged on John's sleeve urgently. "Everything we told you, just forget it! Don't say anything."

"We asked for silence!" Helena yelled into the room.

"Now then. We have a few questions for Mr Smith." Jeffrey smiled innocently, looking towards Mr Smith with his gun pointed out. Rose looked at him along with Martha, and in the corner of her eye, she saw Jamie walk over to the three sinister people and the mannequins.

"Jamie, get away from them!" exclaimed Jackie, but Jamie kept moving towards the people and came to a halt next to them.

"C'mon, son, do what you're mum tells you, yeah?" Pete said, his temper and fear rising when Jamie didn't move. "Jamie! I said get -"

"Silence!" Jeffrey said once more, raising his gun in the air as a warning. "Mr Smith?"

John's eyes widened with horror as the three figures turned on him, and Rose felt her heartbeat pound harder in her chest.

"No, better than that." Jamie piped up suddenly, and Rose started towards him shocked. John held out his arm protectively to keep her back, away from the trouble, and Rose couldn't help but notice the differences between this man and the Doctor.

"The agent. He's a Doctor." Jamie continued, and added, by a way of explanation, "I heard them talking. It's in the boy's memories."

Rose gaped in shock, and tried to call out to her brother, but no words would untangle themselves from the knot in her throat.

"You took human form." Helena stated, staring plainly at John. The corner of her mouth twitched up in amusement.

"Of course I'm human, I was born human!" John spat to them. "As were you! And you, little Jamie, and you, the secretary, and Mr Wilson! What is going on? This is madness!"

"And a human brain, too!" Jeffrey said gleefully. "Simple, thick and dull."

"But he's no good like this." Suzie said with anger.

"We need a Time Lord." Jamie agreed, hungrily staring at John's body.

"Easily done." Suzie replied with a smirk, and pulled her gun out from her jacket pocket. She brought it up and pointed it fearlessly at John. "Change back." she ordered, simply and firmly.

Rose's eyebrows shot up and she froze to the spot, studying the three people stood in front of them. She saw Martha stagger back in shock, but didn't dare look back at her parents, for fear of being noticed. She glanced at Jamie and winced with horror at the malicious smirk playing on his usually cheery face.

"I - I don't know what you're talking about." John stuttered, his hands raised in surrender.

"Change back!" Suzie said loudly, and more forcefully.

"I literally do not know -" John began shouting, but what happened next was just a blur.

Jeffrey Wilson lunged forwards, and Martha shrieked in alarm, but rather than use his gun, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards Suzie and Jamie.

"Get off me!" Martha cried uselessly, but Jeffrey paid no attention. Twisting her arm up behind her back, he raised his gun to her head, and, though breathing rapidly, she ceased to struggle.

"She's your friend, isn't she?" Suzie smirked at him. "Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"

"I don't know what you mean!" John cried helplessly.

"Wait a minute…" Suzie said thoughtfully. "The secretary told me about Smith and the agent… that woman, there!" she indicated to Rose and Helena leapt forward. Taken by surprise, Rose didn't react until it was too late, and then she was held in the grip of the inhumanly strong teenage girl. John darted forwards but was reminded by Suzie's gun to stay put.

Jackie cried out in alarm, but Helena held Rose's body close to her own, and drew out her own gun which she pointed to Rose head, smiling evilly all the while.

"Have you enjoyed it, Doctor?" Suzie smiled wickedly as she continued to hold the gun out, ready to shoot John if needed. "Being human? Has it taught you wonderful things; are you better, richer, wiser?"

Martha struggled in Jeffrey's grip, aching to get away from the man and the gun, but Rose remained calm and still, waiting for the right moment. "Then let's see you answer this." Suzie continued. "Which one of them do you want us to kill? Assistant or agent? Your friend - or your lover?" Rose's calm breathing hitched in her breath, and Martha's heartbeat rose. John looked to the two women in turn. First to Rose's calm, loving face, then to Martha's desperate, scared eyes.

"Your choice."

* * *

Cliffie!! The next update might take a while, as I have homework etc, and I'm going away for the weekend. But I'll try.


	15. Not Quite The Escape

Disclaimer: Don't make me any more unhappy than I already am.

-hides- Please don't kill me.  
I meant to write it sooner, I really did. But then I went away, and I've been too busy to sit down and write properly. Sorry.  
But hey, this chapter's really long (well, in comparison to the chapters in my new story), so yay!

NTMR:  
-Review more, people! They make me smile! And I could use that right now.

* * *

_**Previous chapter...  
**Martha struggled in Jeffrey's grip, aching to get away from the man and the gun, but Rose remained calm and still, waiting for the right moment. "Then let's see you answer this." Suzie continued. "Which one of them do you want us to kill? Assistant or agent? Your friend - or your lover?" Rose's calm breathing hitched in her breath, and Martha's heartbeat rose. John looked to the two women in turn. First to Rose's calm, loving face, then to Martha's desperate, scared eyes.  
"Your choice."_

**Chapter 15: Not Quite The Escape**

John looked from Rose to Martha and back again, nervously shifting his feet and breathing unevenly.

"Make your decision, Mr Smith." Suzie smiled coldly, titling her head to one side as she studied Rose's perfectly still form, and Martha's struggling one.

"Perhaps if that human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge." Jamie said sincerely, and Rose's body turned for the first time, to look down with horror and confusion at her little brother. Then, her eyes flicked up to something just behind John, but neither he, Martha or the four villains noticed.

Rose nodded her head shortly and blinked twice, and John frowned. Suddenly, all around him, guns were pulled out of jackets and Pete walked forwards strongly, holding a gun directly to Helena's face. John spluttered, horror-stricken, but Rose calmly broke away from the teenager as she was distracted and turned the alien gun on the girl.

Martha also used the distraction to twist her captor's arm round and escape his grasp. She stumbled over to John, who absently caught her before she fell, and pushed her up roughly before hurrying over to Rose.

"Rose, you don't need to do this." John whispered to Rose as Pete talked to the four people in front of them.

"…Farram, get everyone out." he was ordering. "Go back to base and wait for further instructions."

"Sir." a man nodded, and lowered his gun. He rushed over to the door and threw it open, ushering everyone out. Agents from Torchwood started to signal to each other, and they formed a circle around the four strange people as the hall filed out hurriedly. John was handed a gun and mirrored Rose's action by holding it up at Jeffrey's head, while Martha was ushered out among the rest of the diners. Talking over the shrieks, Pete continued his instructions.

"Now, I'm guessing these seven shop dummies aren't gonna be much help to you, and we'll have your guns too." he said, and a man stepped forwards to take the guns.

"_They've got us surrounded!"_ someone called from outside, and a number of agents looked over to the door, where shots were being fired loudly. Pete nodded shortly, and several of them exited the building to help the single agent outside.

Helena turned to face Rose, who was holding the alien gun to her face.

"Don't move or I'll shoot." Rose said shakily.

Helena laughed. "Oh, the girl is _full_ of fire!"

"And you can shut up as well." spat Rose, firing the gun once into the ceiling and then returning her aim to Helena.

"Careful, Daughter of Mine." Jeffrey said sharply. "This is all for you, so that you can live forever."

Jeffrey held on to his gun with it pointing threateningly at Rose, and Pete transferred his aim from Helena to the man. "Shoot you down!" Jeffrey exclaimed, laughing.

"Try it." Rose said, indicating Pete's gun. "We'll die together."

There was a pause, and Rose looked over to her little brother. "What's 'appened to Jamie?" she asked nervously. "Is he… gone?"

"He is consumed." Jamie spoke harshly. "His body's mine."

"You mean he's dead." She bit back the tears, but knew they'd come eventually.

"Yes." the boy said, smirking. "And he went with all that - aah! - screaming."

Rose didn't reply, she just stared into her brother's eyes, then returned her focus to Helena, not letting her emotions show. But Suzie saw through her.

"Would you really pull the trigger?" she tested, smiling cruelly.

"Looks too scared." Jamie added.

"Scared and holdin' a gun: it's a good combination!" Rose said shrilly, the tears threatening to flood. "You wanna risk it?" She paused. "Guns. Hand 'em over." she said forcefully.

Jeffrey looked to Suzie and Helena, his eyes showing his rage but his actions soft and innocent, and then he looked to Pete and the dozens of guns pointed at him, and handed over his gun to the agent wordlessly.

"What?!" Jamie cried from beside him, and instantly the closest agents turned their guns on him.

"No!" Pete ordered the agents sharply. "Jamie remains unharmed."

"But sir -"

"He remains unharmed." Pete repeated firmly, and the agents focused their weapons on the other three forms.

Suzie smirked, and Pete turned back to her, frowning. "Like I said: hand over your guns." he ordered again, but instead of giving her gun over to the man beside her, Suzie pointed it across at Jamie.

Helena let out a gasp, but Jeffrey smiled evilly, catching on to her plan. Pete flinched visibly, his instinct telling him to protect his son, and John saw Rose tense up in front of him.

"You wouldn't murder your own. There's only four of you." a woman pointed out from amongst the crowd. "Whatever you are." she added unevenly. Suzie's snide grin only grew.

"We live in the conscience. Son of Mine is young; he can survive in this air for a matter of time. Not for long, but long enough. Enough time to find and inhabit a new being. You will leave us, or I will shoot your son's body."

Pete swallowed, his pulse racing, then dropped his gun on the table in front of him.

"Withdraw." he said quietly, and a few of the agents turned to look at him, bewildered. "Withdraw." he said again, louder, and the men and women slowly started towards the door, not taking their eyes or guns off the people at the front of the room. Pete kept eye contact with Suzie, who was still grinning, while Rose and John stood static, awaiting instructions. They could hear the shrieks and gunshots outside, but didn't flinch.

"Withdraw." Pete repeated for the third time.

"But, Jamie -" Rose started, but she couldn't finish her sentence.

"The male stays." Jeffrey told Pete. "Mr John Smith."

John's eyes grew wide with terror as Rose backed up to him protectively.

"No." Pete said unsurely. "We withdraw. If you attempt to harm any human being on this planet, we as Torchwood are authorized -"

"Silence!" Jeffrey shouted over Pete as he recited the Torchwood Code of Arrest. "We will not harm the man."

"No." Rose protested, still holding her gun to Helena's head, but was reminded by Suzie's gun to Jamie's head who was in control.

"Go." John whispered. "I'll be fine."

Rose turned to him indignantly. "No!" she cried, looking at him as if he were crazy.

- - - - - - -

Kate's heart was pulsing, her breathing sharp an ragged, though she tried her best to control it. Edging out from behind the wall, she looked carefully through the doorway at the backs of four people, along with Pete, who was stood in front of them, John, and Rose. She looked down at the silent fob watch still clutched tightly in her hand, and kept her crawling position, waiting for the right moment to do… whatever she could think of doing. Then she glanced back up to the scene unfolding in front of her.

"I'm not gonna leave you." she heard Rose hiss into John's ear.

"Rose, please." John replied quietly. "Just go. I won't - I can't let them hurt you."

Rose visibly froze, but Kate wasn't interested in her feelings. She concentrated instead on the numerous guns in the room, Pete's on the table, Rose's concentrated on Helena, John's pointed at Suzie and Suzie's pointed at Jamie, while Jeffry remained silent, his focus on Pete, and Helena's alien gun was headed back to Torchwood with the agents. She tried in vain to come up with a plan, any way in which she could help, but could come up with only one solution. The watch.

What would happen, she didn't know, but she saw Pete and Rose reluctantly back away, tears quickly forming in the daughter's eyes, and could take it no more.

She wrenched open the watch, and the golden glow once more flew into the darkness around her. It flooded from the watch like water, sifting through the air in spirals of light, and Kate became enraptured in the sight, oblivious to the happenings beyond her hideaway.

"_Time Lord__…"_ the watch spoke, an echo of a voice long gone.

As the light surrounded her, the four figures seemed to blank out. Helena looked suddenly around at where Kate was hiding, and Jamie followed suit. Jeffrey's gun dropped to the ground, and only Suzie seemed to be unaffected by the watch. John stood perfectly still, until Rose dashed back without a second's hesitation, grabbed his arm and pulled him across towards the door of the building after Pete. Suzie shot at John, narrowly missing, and the ray of green light flew past the running two and into the wall behind them. And then they were gone.

Suzie leapt up, suddenly brought back to reality, and snapped the watch shut. Glancing briefly at Jaffrey, Helena, Jamie and Suzie, she dodged a beam of light from Suzie's gun and sprinted out of the building through the side door, then followed Rose, John and Pete towards a large black car.

- - - - - - -

Rose and John ran, hand in hand, out of the building and into the back of one of the agents' abandoned cars outside. They were followed wordlessly by Kate, and then Pete, who jumped in the middle section of the car, and Jackie, who ran out from behind a rock just before Pete ordered the driver to go.

"Jacks!" he exclaimed, after giving the driver instructions. "Why aren't you at home?"

"Where's Jamie?" Jackie asked, ignoring Pete's question.

Anticipating an argument, Rose stepped in, ignoring the tears falling from her eyes. "Mum, it's for the best. Trust me. We'll explain later." she said tearfully, before turning back to John and Kate. "Kate, you opened the watch."

"I'm sorry." she whispered hoarsely, panic taking over. "I don't even know what it is! I thought it was Mickey's! And I picked it up, and it gets inside your head, and I don't know what it is, but I swear I didn't mean to -"

She cut off by Rose, who's hand had flown across Kate's face like an unexpected bolt of lightning. She gaped, and Rose blurted out an apology before turning to John.

"Doctor, she opened the watch. What does that mean?" she asked him urgently. "It's yours, the watch is yours, but what is it?" John's face hardened at the mention of the Doctor. "You never use watches, you always say 'Time's relative' or whatever. You say they're pointless, so what is it; what's it for?"

"I'm not the Doctor." John said firmly, grabbing hold of Rose's wrists and looking deeply into her eyes.

Jackie turned around to face them. "Wait, you mean he _is_ the Doctor?" she asked Rose unhelpfully. "I knew it!"

"I am not this 'Doctor' man!" John yelled out to the car. "You are all… insane! I am John Smith, I'm thirty-eight, and I work at Torchwood! Is that not enough?" He turned back to Rose. "Am I not enough for you?"

Rose was saved from having to answer the question as the car pulled to an abrupt halt. Pete pulled Jackie out of the door, telling her something about keeping safe and where to go, then he turned to face John, Rose and Kate, who were emerging from the back of the car.

Pete gave instructions to a number of the agents around the four of them, and John took Rose and Kate's arms, leading them towards the building.

"Don't touch me!" Kate cried suddenly, wrenching her arm away with a look of horror. "You're as bad as them!" She ran off into the building, and John and Rose followed, confused. Pete ran after them, still directing the workers around them of what to do and where to go.

"What's the plan?" Rose asked him, attempting to forget about the fact that she was intimately involved in this case. She knew she had to act like it was just another alien, just another invasion, and nothing personal - just as she'd had to for the past five and a half years whilst working at Torchwood.

Rose and John followed Pete through the building, some agents following after them, some holding heir stations. Kate became lost in the crowd, but she was no longer Rose's main concern.

"Dad?" Rose asked Pete with confusion, when they hurried silently through reception and only Martha ran along after them. "Why - Why aren't they following us? Do they know the plan? What are we doing?" She dodged out of the way as men ran along the halls towards the reception, with armour and weapons for an army.

Pete didn't reply, but Rose worked it out. She ran after him, straining to keep up, and leaving John backed fearfully against the wall as more men ran through.

"Don't just stand there, move!" Martha yelled at him urgently, pushing past him to reach Rose. "God, you're rubbish as a human! Come on!" she called back, and he sprinted after them once more.

"But we can't." Rose told Pete, but he didn't reply once again. "Dad!" He came to a brief stop when more agents filed down with weapons and gadgets, and Rose seized him by the arm."You're gonna fight them, aren't you?" she asked. He didn't answer, but Rose already knew. Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, but she pretended not to notice. "What about Jamie?" she asked. "Would you kill him? Could you kill your own son?"

Now Pete's eyes began to water, and he turned away and continued to move through the building. "I've got no choice." he said bitterly, his voice cracking. "Jamie's gone."

"And what about John?" she asked. "What about the Doctor?" She ignored John's protests of "I'm not the Doctor!" and kept running after Pete. "What about - Where the hell are we goin'?!" She stopped suddenly, recognising her surroundings as the far back of the Torchwood building, and Pete pulled her forwards towards the back door.

John and Martha ran up to them and stopped, and Martha leant against the wall breathlessly.

"You're going to run." Pete told them, seemingly not at all out of breath. He held up his hand when Rose made to interrupt. "Rose, please. These aliens are looking for the Doc- for John." he amended, much to Rose's annoyance. "You need to run. You, Martha, an' John. Just run. Anywhere safe. We'll hold down the fort here; it might buy you some more time."

"But dad -" Rose started, but Pete stopped her, and cupped her chin in his hands caringly.

"Rose." he said, softly but firmly. "My Rosie… Go. Please, just go. Keep yourself safe. Keep John safe, an' keep Martha safe. I'll look after your mother, an' I'll do my best for Jamie. We're Torchwood, right?" She nodded weakly. "This is what we do. We can handle it, sweetheart. Just do what you have to do."

He released her face, and she nodded again, unable to speak for fear of the tears showing through.

Pete breathed in and out deeply, then turned to Martha and John. "Right then, you two," he held out his hand to John, who took it feverishly. "Good luck. And, well, keep Rose safe, yeah?"

John mumbled an answer, and Martha nodded to her boss. He took one last glance at Rose, then turned on his heels and ran back down the corridor, shouting commands down the hall to the awaiting officers.

Rose looked straight at John for the first time since escaping the restaurant, but he looked away, avoiding her eyes. Martha, sensing the tension, walked through them to the door, and John hurried on after them. Rose paused, breathing slowly, then turned quickly and sprinted out of the door after them.

She slammed the door carelessly, and swivelled around to stare after Martha and John, running through the forest that thrived eerily behind the building. The sound of a gun-shot echoed through the place, and the three travellers disappeared into the night.

* * *

Review please!  
And the chapters to come will be good; there is lots of Rose/Martha interaction (not shipping) and a bit of angst. Sorry about the wait (and Jamie... again...).


	16. Not Quite A Battle

Disclaimer: We've been through this before.

NTMR:  
-_Two_ reviews? Really? I'm writing this for you guys, so let me know whether it's any good, please!

* * *

**Chapter 16: Not Quite A Battle**

"RUN!" Helena shouted into the night as her and Jamie emerged from the restaurant and shot after the running humans. "Ah, this is super. We've been in hiding too long. This is sport!" She laughed harshly.

"I can smell the agent. He's gone back to his business." Suzie said, sniffing the air as she walked into the cool night.

"We know about Rose Tyler." Jamie said. "But what of the other female?"

Suzie stopped in her tracks and momentarily glowed green. "This body... she was once friends with Miss Martha Jones. The girl would often go walking to the west. Husband of Mine, follow the woman's scent. Go to the west. Find out what she was keeping secret."

"Soldiers!" Jeffrey cried, and the plastic mannequins surrounded him obediently.

"As for you, Sister and Mother of Mine," Jamie said authoritatively, "Let's go to work."

- - - - - - -

Martha led the Doctor and Rose through the forest at a sprint, ignoring the thorns tearing through her trousers, the twigs scratching her face, and the insistent calls of "Where are we going?" from John and Rose. Suddenly, she ground to a halt, and John flew into her, knocking her to the ground. She didn't move for a second after he'd stood up, but listened out to the dark night.

"Shh!" she said sharply as Rose ran towards them in her high heels. She stopped where she was, as did John. Martha raised a hand and looked around her for the sound she had heard. Then John and Rose heard it too. The footsteps of soldiers.

"They're coming." whispered Martha hoarsely. "Go!" she cried to Rose, but Rose didn't move immediately, and Martha bounded ahead of her, leading them in the opposite direction, back towards Torchwood.

"Now where're we goin'?" Rose asked, annoyed, and John grabbed her hand, pulling her along beside him. For a moment, she lost all her doubts and worries, and was just glad that the opportunity had arisen, but then he smiled at her, and she remembered the situation. She pulled her hand away apologetically and ran away from her lover.

- - - - - - -

"They're sounding the alarms." Helena said as she, Jamie and Suzie approached the Torchwood building.

"I wouldn't be so pleased, Son of Mine." Suzie told him. "These bodies are silly and hot. They can damage and die. That's why we need the Time Lord."

"Indeed. They will have guns." Helena added. "Perhaps a little caution. Brother of Mine, you're such a small little thing. Find a way in and spy on them."

Jamie nodded in confirmation and skipped hurriedly down a path into the side entrance of the building.

Helena smelt the cool evening air and sighed, as the plastic mannequin soldiers gathered around her and Suzie.

"War will come to England once more." she said happily.

"Family of Mine, wait." came Jamie's sudden telepathic voice in the two women's ears. "Hold the soldiers back. The Time Lord is playing some sort of trick."

"Discover him, Son of Mine." Suzie ordered, and then he was gone from their minds.

- - - - - - -

Martha came to a halt once more when the three were back outside the Torchwood building.

"What're we doin' back here?" Rose asked, slightly out of breath.

"I've gotta find that watch." Martha breathed heavily.

Throwing open the door, Martha rushed inside the building and into reception. She rushed over to numerous people, asking for Kate, but nobody had seen her.

Rose ran over to Pete, who was organising the agents for battle. "Dad, you can't do this." she told him, and he didn't seem shocked that she was there.

"Darlin', I've got to." he replied tiredly.

"But it's not their battle to fight! It's John's and mine and Martha's." she insisted.

"It's what they were trained to do." As if that solved the matter, Pete walked away, heading towards the other agents preparing for battle. "Where's Kate gone? You'd think she didn't want the promotion..." he muttered, but Rose didn't hear. John slid his hand back through hers, but she pulled away uneasily and headed over to Martha, who was having no luck finding Kate.

"Where's that watch?" Martha muttered to herself frustratedly.

- - - - - - -

Jamie crawled through a window in the side of the building and sucked down behind a crate of explosives. Peering around it, he waited until the coast was clear then dashed out, following the scent of the Doctor upstairs.

- - - - - - -

"What _is_ this watch?" Rose asked, running a hand through her hair. Martha eyed her suspiciously.

"Martha, you can trust me." Rose told her. "I used to travel with the Doctor, I might be able to help. What's goin' on, what's wrong with him?" She nodded towards John, who was staring at the two women with utter disbelief.

Martha sighed, and ignored the people rushing around them as she attempted to explain the situation to Rose. "Look, we were on the run, from these aliens. The Doctor said they could find us anywhere; they had a - a vortex... something."

"Manipulator - a vortex manipulator." Rose supplied.

"Yeah, that, and they could follow us through the vortex; through time and through space. The Doctor used this thing, this Chameleonarch. It made him human."

Rose stepped back, evading John's eyes as he made to interrupt. "Permanently?" she whispered.

"No!" cried Martha. "No, not permanently. He said... he said that the watch was him. That when I needed the Doctor, I had to open the watch. But that if I opened it, the Family would find us."

"Well, we can't open it, then!" Rose exclaimed. "We can't let 'em get the Doctor."

"But they already know it's him!" Martha argued, ignoring John's protests. "He said they had short lifespans. That's why they want him, they want his life. They want to live forever. He said that after three months, they'll just... die."

"Well, he's barely been here for two. We can't wait another month." Rose scratched her head frustratedly.

"It's gonna start soon." Martha whispered. "We've got to run."

"Run where?!" Rose cried after Martha as she ran back out of the building.

"Just somewhere safe!" came the reply, and Rose grabbed John's arm and dashed after her.

- - - - - - -

Wandering the halls of the building, Pete checked every room on his side of the tower for any cowering agents wishing to evade the battle and sent each downstairs. As he grew closer to Jamie, the boy slid into a cupboard and hid behind the door, creeping out only when he was sure the danger had passed. He walked silently upwards after him to find the source of the scent.

At last, Pete came to Kate's office, where she was sat on the floor, gazing at the watch intently.

"You, Kate! Come on, I didn't get you that promotion for nothing. You'll do your duty with the rest of us." He pulled her up roughly and she ran from the room, the watch clutched in her hand.

Pete followed her down the stairs to the front of the building, where an army of agents and soldiers were awaiting their command. Jamie once more hid from Pete and Kate as they dashed down the stairs past him, and when he emerged, the scent followed them. He dashed down the stairs to them, this time looking for Kate.

- - - - - - -

"Daughter of Mine, Wife of Mine?" Jeffrey's voice boomed through Suzie and Helena's ears as he spoke to them telepathically.

"Father of Mine, what have you found?" Helena asked eagerly.

"His TARDIS." Jeffrey said proudly, admiring the wooden craft hidden in the forest. "The Doctor can't escape."

- - - - - - -

Hiding behind a pile of sandbags, with a gun in one hand and the fob watch in her other, Kate's eyes filled with tears.

Her mind filled with memories that weren't hers: A burning sky on a burning planet, scorched for all eternity. John Smith and Rose Tyler, together and alone. Another face, one so familiar: Mickey Smith, from so long ago. Then another, the Family, and another of John, and another of herself. She looked up immediately, her eyes puffed out and red, realising what she had to do.

Pete passed her as she stood up and dropped her gun to the ground. "Kate? You're not runnin' off on me again. Torchwood needs you, come on."

Kate wasn't listening. "Mickey wouldn't want me to fight. He'd want me to help."

"What?" Pete asked, unable to hear over the calamity in the room.

"Maybe..." Kate said slowly. "Maybe I was given this watch so I could help." She turned to look at Pete. "I'm sorry."

"Kate!" Pete called as she ran away from the other agents. "Kate, don't you leave us now!"

"I'm sorry!" she called back over he shoulder, though she wasn't sorry one bit.

She ran as fast as she could to the back of the building, then stopped suddenly, just inside the tower, with her hand on the back door handle, and she slid down the wall.

"How do I find them? What do I do?" she asked the watch desperately. "What do I do? What do I do?"

"Beware..." a voice whispered cautiously.

"Beware of what?" she asked, confused.

"HIM..." the voice said again, louder, and Kate looked up. Jamie Tyler was stood at the opposite end of the hall, just out of the sight of anyone who looked down the corridor.

"Keep away." Kate said shakily, standing up and leaning against the wall.

"Who are you?" the little boy demanded.

"I saw you at the dance." Kate sniffed. "You were with that family. You're one of them."

"What are you hiding?" Jamie asked, and although he was merely a child, his tone of voice sent shivers down Kate's spine.

"Nothing." she replied, hiding the watch discreetly behind her back.

"What have you got there?" Jamie asked again.

"It's nothing." Kate repeated firmly.

"Show me." the boy ordered.

"I reckon, whatever you are, you're still in the shape of a boy." Kate said firmly, walking ever so slightly forwards. "How strong is he, do you think? Does he really want to see _this_?" She thrust the watch open and shone it in front of her, aiming it directly at Jamie.

Whatever he saw, his eyes widened at it, and he fled out of the corridor hastily, leaving Kate to snap the watch shut and turn back to the door.

- - - - - - -

"Time Lord." Suzie said, looking into the night sky.

"Inside the device." Helena added, smirking maliciously.

"Everything he is, concealed away in the hands of a frightened soldier." Suzie laughed harshly. "Now we know that's all we need to find: the girl and the watch. What are we waiting for?"

She paused, letting the cool evening breeze wash around her, then smiled an evil grin and looked to the mannequin soldiers. "ATTACK!"

* * *

REVIEW! Or the chibis will attack too...


	17. Not Quite A Hero

Disclaimer: Never say "Never ever". Unless you're talking about when I'll own this.

Come on, people! Review! It takes, like, two minutes!

* * *

**Chapter 17: Not Quite A Hero**

Pete called for silence as the faint sound of footsteps approached the tower.

"Positions!" he suddenly called out, and there was a rampage as everyone took their positions inside the building.

Checking for the umpteenth time that every security protocol was enabled, he closed his eyes and prayed to whoever he could that the guns would not be necessary and the battle wouldn't happen. Whatever alien technology had landed on Earth, Torchwood was the one place that could reassure people they could fight it. Each time a different piece of technology had forced its way into the building, Torchwood had armed itself against it for the future. He only hoped this species' technology had been to Earth before.

Pete winced each time the footsteps grew in volume. There could be hundred of those mannequins out there, and there would be no way of knowing - not since they'd had to black out the windows for full security.

Suddenly, the footsteps grew to a hair raising crescendo, reminding Pete so much of the Cyberman attack all those years ago, and then... nothing.

"Stand to." Pete said loudly, glad for something to break the eerie silence of the building. Guns were cocked and people all around the room locked their eyes onto the barricaded door, hoping against everything that it would withstand the army of plastic.

"At post!" he shouted to his army, and the guns were raised and aimed at the door, a hundred designs in the hope that even one would take out the species.

"Enemy approaching, sir!" a soldier cried from his post near the only outlook to the outside world. Pete braced himself and raised his own gun, swallowing the tight knot in his throat.

There was a loud cracking noise and several bangs. The sound of lasers could be heard, and then a deafening crash confirmed Pete's fears. They were fighting their way in.

"Steady!" he called out to his troops. "Find the biting point." He wasn't even sure himself what that meant, but the agents understood.

A second loud crash sounded throughout the hall, followed by several more, and then a great gust of wind blew into the building as the door burst of its frame, flying to the floor. As the dirt and dust faded, an army of the plastic mannequins could be seen outside the tower.

"FIRE!" Pete bellowed into the room, and ducked down to cover as the shots clanged and echoed throughout the place. Some of the mannequins fell, some stayed standing through the fire, but not one of the opposition fired a gun, not one used a laser, and not one caused any damage. Pete fired a few shots, but the creatures just kept coming, an endless line of soldiers.

After what could have been minutes or hours of fire, the last mannequin finally fell to the floor with a crash. Pete paused, standing nervously.

"Cease fire!" he called, and jumped around the make-shift barrier to inspect one of the mannequins, expecting to find it was a person, or alien of some kind. But as he reached it, he pulled vigorously on its arm, and the limb came off in his hand.

"They're plastic." he said, his brow creasing. He dropped the plastic arm to the floor. "Just plastic." he confirmed to the army.

"Then no one's dead, sir?" a man spoke out in the front line of agents. "We killed... no one?" The man seemed partly disappointed.

Footsteps sounded outside and Pete jumped back.

"Stand to!" he yelled out to the soldiers, and backed out of the way, in fear of the four human-like aliens. Guns were raised and aimed at the door, but most were lowered again when Jamie stumbled in.

"Jamie!" Pete cried, beckoning him over. "Come on, come out of the way. It's not safe."

"Mr Tyler -" a woman began nervously as Pete made his way over the scattered mannequins to his son. "I-I don't think -"

"Don't tell me how to look after my child." Pete spat at her, tears already in his eyes, but the woman still stood up and approached her boss.

"But she's part of it!" she continued, tip-toeing over the mannequins as Pete had done, but he ignored her.

"Jamie? You okay, Jay?" he asked Jamie, approaching his son with caution, and the woman did the same. "Come with me, yeah? Your... your daddy?"

"You're funny." Jamie said childishly, and Pete grinned weakly.

"Yeah, that's right. Funny old dad." he muttered.

"So funny." Jamie smiled happily, and Pete almost sighed with relief, until the boy's smile grew into a scowl, and he reached into his pocket and drew out a gun. There were numerous gasps and shrieks, and Pete stood straight up, terrified for his life and his son. The woman now stood next to him, and she too stood up straight when the gun was pulled out.

"Jamie..." Pete whispered with sorrow, but Jamie showed no recognition of his father.

"Put down your gun." the woman said firmly, indicating to the gun in her hand. "I'll shoot." she assured him, but Jamie showed no regret as he aimed the gun into the woman's chest, and pulled the trigger smoothly.

The woman screamed out in agony for only a second, then her arms raised in the air with pain and her legs crumpled to the ground, and her body vanished into the hot, terror-filled air and she sunk to the floor, leaving nothing but a pile of ashen remains. Pete, breathing rapidly, stumbled backwards to the other agents.

"Now who's going to shoot me? Any of you? Really?" the small boy challenged eagerly. A stunned, shocked silence filled the room. Some guns were cocked, ready to fire, but no one had the guts to make the first shot.

"Put down your guns." Pete ordered harshly.

"But sir -" someone interrupted, but they were ignored.

"I'll not see this happen." he said firmly. "Not anymore. You will retreat in an orderly fashion through the back of the tower. Jennings, lead the way."

"But -"

"I said lead the way." the man persisted, and Jennings reluctantly stood.

A girl rounded the corner: Helena Price. There was a silence as she entered, the majority of the agents looking to the army officer for commands. They received them instead from Helena.

"Go on then!" she cried. "Run!" She raised her own gun into the air and shot at the ceiling. Immediately, agents jumped to their feet and rushed to the back exit after Jennings.

Once the building was empty, Helena's mouth twisted up into a sinister grin. She looked down at the floor to the mannequins. "Re-animate." she said simply, and the soldiers rose, ready for battle.

- - - - - - -

Moments later, the agents were herded back into the building by the mannequins.

"One of these female soldiers has the watch." Suzie explained to Jamie, holding one up by their collar from the long line of female employees being held by the mannequins. She didn't dare try to resist. "You've seen her. This one?"

"No." Jamie said immediately, and Suzie pushed the girl to Helena, where she was shoved out of the door into the small adjoining office.

"This one?" she asked again, holding up another woman, who again, didn't struggle.

"No." Jamie repeated, and the woman was thrown into the office with the others.

The mannequins this time brought forwards a struggling woman, who was kicking out furiously at Suzie and the mannequins.

"Let go!" she bit out, struggling and failing to get away. "Get off me!"

"Ah-ha!" Suzie cried. "This one - is that her?"

Jamie tilted his head to the side, studying the woman. "No."

The woman was pushed out with the others.

"Right," Suzie sighed, bored. "Kill this lot."

- - - - - - -

High in the tower, Kate sat cross-legged on the floor of her office, having fled from the battle below.

She lifted the faintly glowing watch into the air calmly, all sense of distress lost, and pressed smoothly on the button. The golden flow of light erupted once again, and she closed her eyes peacefully.

_"Lord of Time..."_ she heard. After a few seconds of opening the watch, she snapped it shut and ran outside, then bounded over to the stairwell and called up the lift.

On the ground floor, Suzie froze, sniffing loudly, and Helena and Jamie did the same.

"That's him." Jamie whispered, savouring the scent of the Time Lord.

"Upstairs! Suzie ordered, and the three of them marched up the stairs to find Suzie.

The woman most recently released leapt out of the door, pushing the mannequins aside. "Don't just stand there!" she exclaimed to the other prisoners. "Outside; come on!"

Moments later, Suzie, Helena and Jamie reached the floor from which Kate had just descended in the lift. They charged towards the office where the scent was still strong, but it was empty, with no traces of the watch.

- - - - - - -

"Doctor!" came the loud, hoarse voice of Jeffrey Wilson, ringing out through the night. Rose, John and Martha heard it from inside the forest, and turned instinctively towards the noise. "Doctor!" he called again. Rose started towards the sound and the others followed quietly.

"Come back, Doctor." the man shouted. "Come home. Come and claim your prize."

After a moment's walk to the edge of the forest, Rose reached the road and ducked down behind a cover of bushes crawling over an old, weathered plaque.

"Out you come, Doctor." Helena's smooth voice joined in, as she walked to meet Jeffrey. John and Martha joined Rose and crouched down behind the slap of concrete, watching as the figures met in the dim light of the streetlamps. "There's a good boy."

"Come to the Family!" the small voice of Jamie piped up eagerly. Rose swallowed the tears and the lump in her throat, her eyes transfixed on Jamie as if that was her only problem in the world.

"Time to end it now!" Suzie's sharp voice rang out.

Then Rose heard Martha's voice beside John. "You recognise it, don't you?" she asked softly, and for a moment, Rose was confused. But then she looked up from Jamie's body and saw what was standing behind this Family of aliens. The TARDIS, strong and proud, was being leant on by Helena, its lights blaring into the night eagerly.

"Come out, Doctor!" Suzie urged. "Come to us!"

"I-I've never seen it in my life." John denied shakily, his eyes transfixed on the blue box, as were Rose's. Emotion she couldn't have imagined rose to her heart as she gazed upon the machine, but she couldn't say the same for John.

"Do you remember its name?" Martha asked him, but he shook his head wordlessly.

"John?" Rose whispered to him hoarsely, finally ripping her eyes away from the TARDIS. "John, but you wrote about it." she told him, placing her hand on top of his on the concrete plaque. "The blue box. You dreamt of a blue box. Remember?" she asked him, her voice cracking as her eyes welled up with tears. "Please remember..."

"I-I-I'm not -" John spluttered. "I'm John Smith! That's all I want to be." he told Rose, looking deep in her eyes for an answer as his own filled with tears. "John Smith. With his life... and his job... and his love. Why can't I be John Smith?" he asked Rose, tears streaming down his cheeks in such a John-like way. "Isn't he a good man?"

"Yes." Rose agreed solemnly. "Yes he is."

"Why can't I stay?" John asked, his face frowning with sorrow.

"But we need the Doctor." Martha said firmly, and John broke eye contact with Rose to glare at Martha.

"So what am I then, nothing?" he said angrily. "I'm just a story? Am I not real?"

"No, of course you are." Rose whispered.

"When I kissed you, was that not real?" he asked her, and she shook her head insistently.

"I love you, John." Rose told him."Of course you're real."

"But the Doctor? He's more so?" John asked, and Rose didn't answer, not wanting it to be true.

Before Rose or Martha could stop him, John leapt up from the bush and ran into the distance, under the dark cover of the forest.

Rose closed her eyes for barely a second, then opened them again to glance angrily at Martha. Then she jumped up and ran into the forest after John. After another second, Martha too leapt up and ran into the forest after John.

"One more phase and we won't have to hunt." Jeffrey spoke bluntly. "The Doctor, Mr Smith, the woman, the watch - they will come to us. Soldiers! Guard this thing!" he ordered.

The Family walked away, leaving the magical blue box in the safe hands of their soldiers. Then they disappeared into the cover of the night.

* * *

There you go, I saved Pete. Happy now? Happy enough to... review? Maybe?

Oh, and I'm going away for a week on Tuesday, so you definitely won't get an update until November. Unless I can beg my grandparents to let me at the computer. Not likely. :P Sorry!


	18. Not Quite The Answer

Disclaimer: Look up 'posses' in the dictionary. When you do, there'll be a picture of me underneath, and I'll be saying "I don't do this."

Okay, so it turns out we weren't going to see my grandparents, but instead we had a surprise holiday to Spain! Woohoo!  
But that meant I had no chance of updating. So have a chapter. I'll try to get another one up soon to make up for the delay.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Not Quite The Answer**

"This way." Rose said quietly, leading the way quickly through the forest. "I think I know somewhere we can hide."

"We've got to keep going." John insisted, thrusting branches out of his way as he ran after Rose, but she spared him not a glance.

"Just listen to me for once, John." she replied tiredly, wiping her forehead with her arm as she stumbled through the night. "Follow me."

Martha didn't speak, just followed the two through the forest.

- - - - - - -

Inside their ship, the Family were all at work.

"Fully armed and ready." Jamie reported. "Mother, Father and Sister of Mine, prepare the armaments. I doubt that England is ready for _this_! Fix targets... and counting down."

He flicked some switches and buttons on the green glowing wall and smirked.

- - - - - - -

Rose stopped abruptly outside a small, lone cottage, and John and Martha stopped beside her, Martha breathing heavily.

"Here we are." Rose said, looking up at the house. "It should be empty."

"But who lives here?" Martha asked as the three of them made their way to the door.

"If I'm right, no one." Rose told her, and pushed gently on the door. It opened easily, and she walked in, flicking on the light to show a small living room with a large television and a fire in the centre of the room.

"Hello?" she called, but there was no reply. "No one home. We should be safe here."

"Whose house is it, though?" Martha asked again, and Rose sighed distractedly.

"The Prices. That girl at the restaurant, she's Helena Price - or she's taken Helena Price's form. If she came home after... _that_ happened, and her dad tried to do anything, then he vanished." She suddenly looked at John. "Her mum's Angela Price."

John looked confused, as if he felt he should remember that name. Rose stepped closer to him. "D'you remember, John? Do you remember Mrs Moore?" she asked him, more tears in her eyes. "She died for us."

John backed away, seemingly horrified by this news, and Rose looked to Martha with sorrow. She heard John sit down on the sofa behind her.

"I must go to them before anyone else dies." he said suddenly.

"You can't." Rose told him, sitting beside him and resting her hand on his knee. She looked up to Martha again. "Martha, there's gotta be somethin' we can do."

She shook her head. "Not without the watch."

"You're this Doctor's companion!" John spat, hating the words with a fierce rage. "Can't you help? What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?"

"Because he's lonely." Martha said simply, and John didn't reply instantly. Rose felt her heart sink slightly, just at the mention of the Doctor's life without her. She'd wanted him to find someone, to be happy again. And what had he become instead? John seemed to think the same.

"And that's what you want me to become?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

Nobody spoke for a while, but then Rose gathered the confidence to address Martha. "You and the Doctor..." she started uneasily.

"I'm just a friend." Martha said quickly, banishing any thoughts screaming otherwise to the back of her mind. "I'm not... I mean you haven't got a rival, as much as I might... Just his friend." she finished shortly. Rose nodded.

"How did you even get here?" she asked, frowning. "The Doctor said... he said that the breach was closed. There shouldn't be any way across - and believe me, I've tried." she smiled sadly, but Martha just shrugged.

"I don't know." she sighed, sitting down on the seat opposite the sofa. "The TARDIS was setting off; I'd put in the co-ordinates but then I changed my mind. I pressed something, and it started crashing around, and I fell against the panel, and... and I don't know what I did."

"I'll be surprised if it can even get us out of here." Rose suddenly realised.

Martha looked up, eyes wide with shock and worry, but Rose was prevented from explaining further as there was a sharp knowck on the door. The three of them looked up instantly.

"What if it's them?" Martha asked in a whisper, clutching the fabric of the seat tightly in her hands.

"I'm not an expert," Rose began, edging towards the door, "But I don't think mannequins knock." She opened the door uneasily, but sighed with relief as Kate was revealed, with reddened eyes and a tear-stained face. She stumbled in and Rose shut the door behind her.

Kate held out her hand in a fist and slowly opened it. "I brought you this." she said quietly, and everyone looked down to the beautiful metal fob watch in Kate's hand.

_"Martha..."_ it whispered excitedly, and Martha leapt up from her seat and grabbed the watch from Kate.

She smiled slightly, caressing the watch with her finger, and then turned to John, holding out the watch to him. He stood slowly. "Hold it." she asked him softly.

"I won't." he refused, shaking his head.

"Please, just hold it." she pleaded, holding it out at arm's length. John looked to Rose and Kate, and then to Martha's begging face, and finally to the watch.

"It told me to find you." Kate told him shakily. "It wants to be found."

"How come you've had it all this time?" Rose asked quietly to Kate, who looked directly at John as she spoke.

"Because I was waiting." Kate said, afraid of he words she spoke. John looked up at her, and they made eye contact. "And because I was scared of the Doctor."

"Why?" Rose breathed, though she knew the answer herself. She had felt it before.

"Because... I've seen him." Kate said confidently. "He's... like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun."

"Stop it." John told her shakily.

"He's ancient and forever." she continued, like a spell cast across the sky. "He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe."

"Stop!" John said, louder. "I said stop it!"

"And... he's wonderful."

There was a pause, where Martha looked to Kate and Kate looked to John, and Rose locked eyes with her lover and tried to read his thoughts. But, just like his Time Lord counterpart, nothing showed through his exterior of worry and sadness.

Rose reached into her pocket and drew out the journal, surprised that she had it on her. "I've still got this." she spoke into the silence.

"Those are just stories." John was adament.

"Now, we know that's not true." Rose said, not looking at him. "Maybe there's somthin' in here."

She opened it up and flicked to the latest entry, but before she could read anything, a thunderous crash shook the house, and Rose dropped the book with shock.

"What the hell...?!" Martha exclaimed, dashing to the window, and Rose and John crowed round her. Kate gasped and let the watch fall to the floor alongside hte book, then dashed to the window behind Rose. In the night sky, asteroids were falling like rain, barely one mile away. Their faces all showed the same expression of shock and worry as they gazed out upon the fires erupting from the ground, and Rose felt her stomach flip over with fright.

"They're destroying the village." Rose said shakily, not noticing as John turned around and saw the watch on the floor.

"Watch..." John muttered, bending down to retrieve the object, and Rose spun around.

"John, don't." she asked him, afraid of what could happen, then cursed herself. Didn't she want the Doctor back?

_"Come closer..."_ John heard, and he stroked the markings intimately, drawn by the voice, so familiar and yet so mysterious.

"Can you hear it?" whispered Kate, who had turned aorund with Martha and were now also watching John, the falling balls of fire almost forgotten.

_"Closer..."_ it beckoned, _"Closer..."_

"I-I think he's asleep." John told the others, not looking up from the watch. "Waiting to awaken."

"Why me?" Kate asked, not expecting an answer. "Why did it speak to me?"

Suddenly, John looked up, his now wide eyes snapping up to meet Kate's lonely ones. "Oh, that's just the TARDIS playing up 'cause we're not supposed to be here." came the Doctor's confident voice, flowing quickly and flawlessly from John's mouth. Rose's face lit up, thinking the Doctor was back, and Martha looked up, confused but overjoyed. "Time's all over the place at the moment. You were lonely and emotional after your boyfriend died; I was -" he cut off, drawing back and inhaling deeply. "Is that how he speaks?" John asked, his voice returning to his own shaky speech.

"That's him!" Martha exclaimed happily, stepping forward. "All you have to do is open it and he's back!"

John looked up, momentarily letting his fury get the better of him. "You knew this?" he asked her, helpless. "You knew this all along, and yet you watched while Rose and I -" he broke off, seemingly unable to even say the words. Martha stepped forward again, her heart braking at John's words.

"I didn't know how to stop you." she told him truthfully. "He gave me a list of things to watch out for, but that wasn't included."

"Falling in love?" John asked disbelievingly. "That didn't even occur to him?"

Martha hesitated. "No." she said, her eyes watering at the sadness of the situation and the incredible sound of the explosions outside.

"Then what sort of man is that?" John asked furiously. "And now you expect me to die?"

"It was always going to end, though!" Martha reassured him. "The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan. That's why they need to consume a Time Lord. Otherwise, three months and they die. Like mayflies, he said."

"So your job was to execute me?" John told her, and her heart shattered.

"People are dying out there." she said sadly, tears threatening to fall. "They need him, and _I_ need him. 'Cause you've got no idea what he's like. I've only just met him. It wasn't even that long ago, but he is everything..." Rose smiled distantly, remembering ow she felt after her first adventures with the Doctor, and she suddenly felt so sorry for Martha, having to cope with this burden all on her own. "He's just everything to me," Martha continued, looking straight into John's eys. "And he doesn't even look at me, but I don't care... 'cause I love him to bits. And I hope to God he won't remember me saying this."

The house rocked with explosions, but only Kate noticed. Both John and Rose were regarding Martha with utter surprise.

"It's getting closer." Kate reported, not expecting anyone to care. And indeed, nobody did, as John had just thought up a plan.

* * *

Review please!


	19. Not Quite Human

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

It's the chapter you've all been waiting for... probably, anyway.

NTMR:  
-Lisa: Hehe, yes, there is definitely something... "different" coming up. This story is quite similar to the episode, as it's supposed to be an alternative to it, not a completely different story, but I guess I can see where you're coming from.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Not Quite Human**

"I should have thought of it before." John said, avoiding anyone's eyes as he held out the watch. "I can give them this. Just the watch. Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!"

"You can't do that!" Martha told him firmly, waving er arms in frustration.

"If they want the Doctor, they can have him." he shook the watch distastefully.

"He'll never let you do it. And neither will we." Martha said stubbornly.

"If they get what they want, then-then -"

"Then it all ends in destruction." Rose spoke hoarsely. "John, you know what'd happen." she laughed bitterly. "Those things would live forever. War across the stars." she tilted her head to the side and spoke softer. "We've done it all before. Years ago and years to come. You'd never let that happen. Not after all you've done, not after all you've seen."

He looked up. "How do you know? How could you? I've known you all of two months, perhaps longer, and... I-I don't even know myself! I had the accident, remember?"

"There was no accident, John." Martha told him. "We made it up. It was just a story."

"Like me?" John asked quickly, and Martha had no response. His lip began to quiver with fear and rage "Is-Is that all I am? Really, is that what you all think of me? Am I just some thing, some person; not quite this-this Doctor, but I'll do until the real thing comes back?" Martha looked at the floor guiltily, and Rose felt her face glow a pale red.

"Martha, Kate, can you leave us alone, please?" Rose asked, keeping her eyes on John. Kate trudged obidiently out of the cottage, but Martha was reluctant to leave. Rose shot her a glance that seemed to convince her otherwise, and she slowly followed Kate out of the building amongst the falling asteroids from the inky-black sky.

They sat down in silence on a cold, damp bench outside the house, and Kate began to sob quietly. Martha looked at her sorrowfully, and wrapped her arms around the stranger, hoping it would take away some of her own fear.

Inside the house, Rose looked sternly at John until his eyes met hers. His lip trembled again weakly, and his eyes watered with fresh tears. He couldn't help but think he was so unlike the man she wanted.

"I-I don't know what to say." he began uneasily, and Rose walked over to him by the sofa. "I don't know what to think." He looked at Rose, confusion and helplessness written over his face. "If-If you're Rose, the Doctor's Rose, and I'm really the Doctor..." he trailed off, rubbing his temple. "He loves you." he told her truthfully. "He never told you that. Never."

Rose didn't speak, wanting John to continue. "How can I be him?" he asked her. "How can I turn back into him, with his loneliness, and his rage? And his broken heart?" Tears slid down his face, and Rose wiped them away, conscious of those sliding down her own cheeks as she did so.

"He did." she said quietly, nodding, but John shook his head. "He never said it, but I knew." she amended, stroking his cheek. "Things... happened. You might not remember, but we did things... We both knew."

They both stood in silence for a moment, listening to the falling flames outside the house, studying each other's faces.

"If I could do this instead of you," Rose said, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Then I would."

John shook his head again, holding her hand on his cheek when she made to pull away. "I wouldn't let you." he told her. "He wouldn't let you."

"I wanted us to -" Rose began, then saw John's sorrowful expression and broke off. "No, that ain't important."

John prised her hand away from his face and took it in his hand. "He won't love you." he said stubbornly. "Not like I do. Not ever." Rose stifled a sob. "He can't, and he knows it. He won't ever let himself love. And even if he did, no one would love you more than me."

This time, Rose let her sob out, momentarily forgetting to stay strong for her Doctor. "Why does it have to be so difficult?" she whispered, wrapping her other hand around hers and John's. "When you left - When I was left here, I thought I'd never love again. And then you came back, and everything changed." she said through her sobs. "And now you have to go."

"He's sorry, Rose." John told her kindly. "He never wanted you to go."

For a moment, Rose looked up into John's creamy, hazel eyes, and she could almost see the Doctor's dark, hollow ones looking back. But then she blinked, and all she could see was John.

"Let me see this." Rose sniffed, braking her contact with John to take the watch from the hand dangling uselessly by his side. "Damn thing." she uttered. "Can't even hear it. It's nothin' to me."

John reached up and clasped her hand in his. The cold metal of the watch suddenly burned so hot, and the lovers' minds exploded with memories from the future.

_They're out in a restaurant, eating and talking. They laugh, and the world echoes it around them, forever._

_They're standing together outside a church with confetti streaming down upon them. Rose lifts her pure, white veil and kisses John passionately, and he returns the gesture with an ecstatic grin._

_Then they're in a hospital, and Rose is cradling a baby. John kisses her forehead and they smile._

_Now John, old and withered, lies in a warm bed in a house in the country, with Rose by his side, always clutching his hand._

_"They're all safe, aren't they?" he asks her hoarsely, his voice scratching with every word. "The children, the grandchildren? Everyone's safe?"_

_"Everyone's safe." Rose tells him softly. "They all send their love, John."_

_"It's done." he whispers, lying back in peace, and closing is eyes. "Thank you."_

John and Rose gasped simultaneously and were brought back to the cold, bleak night.

"D-Did you see?" John asked Rose, and she nodded sadly.

"He has such adventures, but he could never have a life that." she shook her head.

"And yet, I could!" John told her, looking down at the watch. In that second, the visions clouded Rose's mind, banishing all of her duties to the Doctor away, and she finally saw John for what they could be.

"I don't want you to leave me." Rose sobbed suddenly, her eyes wide with fear of being alone once more. "I want you! I want John! My John..."

John took her face in his hands. "Rose..." he began, but couldn't find the words he needed.

"What are you gonna do?" she asked, and he looked back up, but didn't answer. Suddenly, Martha ran into the house with Kate.

"There coming closer!" she cried. "John, you've got to go!"

John looked at her with terror clear on his face, then back to Rose. "I-I can't." he said, afraid. Rose didn't reply. "You... you don't want me to?" he asked hopefully.

"You've got to." Martha told him harshly, and John shot her a cold look.

"Martha's right." Rose told him, avoiding his eyes, her heart braking with every word. "Maybe the Doctor can't offer me all that you can, but that won't save the world."

"And that's what the Doctor will do?" he asked her. "Go around protecting people, saving other worlds, with no thought to himself? With people dying for him? With no love, no family?"

Rose nodded. "That's the way it's gotta be." she told him regretfully, and paused. "I'm not gonna leave you." she insisted. "If we can get home, I'm comin' with you."

Martha backed into the corner of the room sadly, but neither Rose nor John noticed her. They were brought back to reality as they were thrown across the room; glass shattered in the windows and the curtains blew out in the wind as a lump of burning rock landed outside the cottage. Rose and John broke apart with shock and Rose returned to her Torchwood persona.

"Everyone out!" She cried professionally, and everyone ran from the cottage to wherever the asteroids had not yet fallen - back to the TARDIS.

After minutes of running from the cottage after Rose, they hid down behind the rock once more, supposedly safe for at least a few minutes. Martha and Kate had gone a different way when running from the house, and so it was only Rose and John who hid behind the plaque.

The sound of the falling rocks was ten times louder in the wide open space of the city, but Rose and John ignored it as they watched the TARDIS, guarded by the sinister looking plastic mannequins.

"D'you remember the living plastic?" Rose asked him gently. He nodded.

"First time we met." he confirmed with a smile, then looked back to the mannequins, and it vanished. "You don't think they're -"

"Nah." Rose dismissed, ignoring her rapid pulse and braking heart. "They're just soldiers. Activated by the Family." A lump rose in her throat. "D'you think... d'you think Jamie'll ever come back?" she asked, not able to hold the tears in this time.

John shrugged sorrowfully. Rose looked at him strangely, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't think of the words.

"Should I go?" John asked her. "Is it the right thing to do?"

Rose nodded. "John, I'm sorry." she said sadly. "I'm _so_, so sorry. But... I think you need to."

He nodded slowly, breathing in and out deeply.

- - - - - - -

Kate and Martha ran as fast as they could through the forest, but soon they realised they were no longer in the company of Rose or John. Martha felt her heart sink in guilt, and brake into a million shards as she thought of what was to come.

They walked aimlessly through the forest, knowing there was nothing more they could do for John or Rose, and hoping against all hope that the Doctor would shine out again and save the day.

- - - - - - -

"We'll blast them into dust!" Jeffrey said excitedly, studying the panel on the green wall of the spaceship as the burning rocks fell outside."Then fuse the dust into glass, then shatter them all over again!"

His Family joined him, and they all watched as the burning embers were cast across the sky, waiting for the man who would change their lives forever.

There was a loud twang of metal from the entrance to the ship. The Family turned around to study the green glowing craft, and all smirked and smiled when they saw the source.

John stumbled clumsily into the room. He knocked against the side of the ship as he tripped over his feet, and fell to the floor with a thud, accidentally pressing down on severalinconspicuous switches and buttons on the wall.

"Just-Just stop the bombardment." he stuttered, frightened, flinching at the bangs from outside in the dark."That's all I'm asking. I-I'll do anything you want, just stop."

"Say please." Helena smiled, ravishing the moments.

"P-Please." John said immediately.

Suzie turned and flicked a large switch on the wall. A hissing noise filled the room and John looked around himself, terrified, but a moment later, Suzie frowned.

"Wait a minute," she said, and sniffed loudly. "He's still human." she said, annoyed.

"Look. Now I can't-I can't pretend to understand, not for a second, but I-I want you to know that I'm innocent in all of this." John said, his voice trembling as he tried to stand, pulling on levers and switches but neither noticing nor caring."He made me John Smith. It's not like I had any control over it."

"He didn't just make himself human, he made himself an idiot." Jeffrey said with amusement.

"Same thing, isn't it?" Jamie asked, bored.

"I don't care about this Doctor and your family, I-I just want you to go." he said, oblivious to their voices as he fell with terror against the walls covered in buttons."So, I've made my choice." he held out the watch for one of them to take."Y-You can have him. Just take it, please! Take him away."

He thrust his arm forward encouragingly, and Helena reached out for it greedily. But instead, Jamie bounded forward and took the watch, and Helena turned and grabbed John by the lapels of his suit.

"At last." Jamie whispered at the watch, holding it carefully in his hands as if the slightest touch could brake it.

"Don't think that saved your life." Helena snarled at John, and she pushed him away into the wall, where he reached out and grabbed at the levers to support himself, though he still fell to the floor.

"Family of Mine," Jamie said proudly, his eyes glinting like a magpie, just finding its greatest treasure."Now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord."

He breathed out deeply, and pressed on the top of the watch with such delicacy you wouldn't believe him to be an alien. The four hostile creatures breathed in deeply, all closing their eyes, but opened them again when nothing happened.

There was no golden glow flowing from the watch, no bright wisps of glittery light to illuminate the dark interior of the spaceship.

"It's empty!" he cried angrily, and Suzie turned to John, who was still leaning on the wall, trying to back away further as if afraid the people might explode.

"Well, w-where's it gone?" John asked, astounded. "Does this mean I-I can go back to Rose? Can I leave?"

"You tell me." Jamie told him firmly, and threw the watch to the cowering man, who caught in with one hand and stood up straight with a groan.

"Oh," he began airily,"I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection; little bit like ventriloquism of the nose." he grinned, walking forward towards the Family."It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy." he reached inside his jacket and placed his black rimmed glasses on his nose, then pushed carelessly past Suzie to get to the screen.

"But it has got to be said," he continued with a grimace, studying the statistics on the screen."I don't like the looks of that hydroconometre. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retro-stabilisers feeding back into the primary heat converter." He laughed briefly, then breathed in sharply, whistling through his teeth as a result.

"'Cause if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons. But, in fairness, I will give you one word of advice." The man backed away from the four people, edging closer to the door. "Run!"

Jamie stared at him, confused, lost, then Suzie caught on. Her eyes widened with shock and horror, and she studied the Doctor as if hoping she was wrong. "Get out!" she screamed to her Family. "Get out!"

The man in front of them, his name lost, meaningless, raised his eyebrows once, his mouth stretching up in to a teasing smirk. Then he turned on his heel and ran out of the ship, into the burning black night, faster than he'd run in... Ooh, two and a half months?

* * *

Guess what? THE DOCTOR'S BACK! Yay!


	20. Not Quite A Brother

Disclaimer: Not in a hundred trillion years. Though, if it's any consolation, no one else will own it then, either.

Okay, now... you're either going to love it, or hate it. I honestly have no idea which one you'll all be. My best friend loved it, whereas I wasn't too sure. But she convinced me it was a good idea, so here we go. (Thanks Braceface_freak!)  
Hey, I'm getting good at this whole updating thing now. Less than two days' wait! Yay!

NTMR:  
-Lisa: God, you're giving me loads to think about! Thanks! Okay, first, the reason John's pretty much the same to the John in HN/FoB is because, well, he's supposed to be. He's the same man, just in different circumstances, and I don't think two and a half months is long enough to change what someone could be. And also, (up to this point, anyway) he didn't believe that Rose was real and telling the truth, so he wouldn't have felt any differently towards her. Second, in my opinion, I don't think it would have been a completely different story if John came to Torchwood instead of 1913. I think that 1913 was a love story, and this is still a love story. Except, in this story, the object of John's affections already knows him :P Thanks for your opinion though! I really appreciate the help! And this chapter is definitely not like the episode (except the first bit), since he's now the Doctor and all. Yay!

* * *

**Chapter 20: Not Quite A Brother**

_"He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing. The fury of the Time Lord.  
"And then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with Gods and Demons, why he'd run away from us and hidden. He was being kind."_

_"He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains, forged in the heart of a dwarf star."_

The form of Jeffrey Wilson, once a human being, writhed in chains, struglling to no avail. The cold metal strangled his arms, his legs, his neck, but still the Doctor stood, never moving, never speaking. The heavy door closed in front of him, and the man's screams were heard no more through the walls of the ancient ship.

_"He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, to be imprisoned there... forever."_

Suzie Costello's fighting body was pulled further and further away, out of the blue doors toward the fiery inferno blazing behind her. She screamed into the distance as gravity took hold and her limbs were stretched down, but no voice was heard, and her arms flailed out uselessly in front of her. Again, the Doctor watched, with no mercy, no emotion.

_"He still visits my older sister, once a year, every_ _year."_

Helena Price, her body usually straight with pride and attitude, cowered in the corner of the frame, her eyes frightened and fearful.

_"I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is - can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror, every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you, just for a second, that's her. That's always her."_

The Doctor watched her carefully as she peeked out of the corner of the mirror, studying him with fear and awe.

_"As for me, I was suspended in time. And the Doctor put me to work, standing over the walls of England, as their protector."_

The miniature body of Jamie Tyler was tied onto a board, his clothes black as night, his face frozen still. The Doctor surveyed him sadly, then walked around the statue across the rooftop. Soldiers bowed their heads graciously as he exited the roof, and he walked down the flights of stairs in silence. He walked out of the Torchwood Tower with sorrow.

_"We wanted to live forever, so the Doctor made sure that we did."_

- - - - - - -

The Doctor entered the cottage with no hint of emotion on his face. His long brown coat billowed around his body as he stepped through the open door into the living room, where Rose watched through the window at the approaching dawn.

"Is it done?" she asked, wiping her eyes and not daring to turn.

"It's done." the Doctor spoke quietly. Now Rose gatehred up the courage to turn aorund, but when she did, she had to turn back to the window. He made his way over to her gingerly. Still she didn't look at him, as he stood centimetres behind her.

"Torchwood are dealin' with the media. Y'know the... asteroids and that. I should go help Pete." She turned to look at him for the first time and felt herself take a step back. "It's you." she whispered.

He nodded, a smile creeping up his sad face. "It's me. And it's you." he said, grinning, though he couldn't help but notice the tears shining in her eyes. She didn't bother to brush them away.

The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, wishing never to let go. She held onto him tightly, forgetting anything that had happened over the past three months, and just living for the sake of it. The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose, so pleased to have found her, so guilty of what he'd done, and so afraid of what would come next.

Eventually they parted. She took a step back, and the two of them both looked at each other, for the first time in years, seeing the real thing. But, for some reason, it wasn't the tearful, romantic reunion Rose had pictured every night for the past six years.

"You look the same." Rose smiled slightly, then hesitated before continuing. "W-Where is he? John Smith?"

The Doctor tapped his head. "In here, somewhere."

"Like a story." Rose added, and the Doctor nodded. "Can you change back?" she asked tearfully.

"Yes." he replied, remembering the last time she had asked a question like that.

"Will you?"

"No."

She nodded understandingly, and the Doctor repeated the question he had asked her all those years ago. "Do you want me to?" he asked her carefully. She shrugged, not wanting to tell him the answer.

"Oh." he replied, surprised, his face growing more sombre as he realised her choice. "I thought..."

"I love you." Rose told him, before he could think otherwise, and she took a small step towards him as proof. "It's just - with John... Well, I dunno if you remember it, but -"

"I remember." the Doctor said quietly. "And I'm sorry."

Rose shook her head frustratedly. "No, don't be." she told him.

"No, I'm really so, so sorry. I shouldn't have let it happen; I shouldn't have let us -"

"Doctor." Rose said simply, forcing the word out, and the man silenced. "I loved John." she said truthfully, lifting his head up when he looked down. "He was kind, and loyal, and... brilliant. And so are you." she almost whispered the last part.

"You know I can't give you... all of that. That safety, that life." the Doctor told her, hating himself or what he was saying.

"Who wants safety?" Rose asked him simply, not expecting an answer. There was a pause before she spoke again, gently, "What happens now?"

The Doctor sighed slowly. "Well, I've dealt with the Family." His eyes flickered up to meet Rose's, but he continued before she could interrupt. "And the TARDIS'll be fine, I expect. How we got here in the first place, I don't think I'll never understand. But I'll just do some..."

"Jiggery-pokery?" Rose supplied, and he grinned.

"Yep, some jiggery-pokery, and we should be good to go." the Doctor told her. She looked up at him, a mischevous glint in her sparkling eyes.

"We?" she asked inccoently.

"Yeah." the Doctor said, then realised what he had said. "That is - I mean, myself and Martha, of course!" Rose's heart sank when he spoke his companion's name. "And you." he added. "If you'll come."

She didn't answer immediately. "There's something else." she started, frowning and looking down at the dusty, white windowsill. "Something you need to know."

John frowned slightly and didn't reply.

"It's about Jamie." she told him quietly, but he didn't respond. "You've already... "dealt with him"?"

He nodded weakly with guilt, but then added "It's... reversible. What I had to do to Jamie's body, it's reversible, if you wanted to say goodbye. But -"

Rose held up a finger, her throat tight with nerves, and the Doctor stopped talking. After a moment, she found the right words. "He's... I mean, it's not... he's not my brother." she said finally, and the Doctor smiled, almost sadly. She looked up guiltily, but frowned when she saw his expression, almost as if he was proud of her. "I mean, back when he was Jamie, he wasn't my brother then, either. He -" she cut off when he was still smiling. "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, I just think I... I might know." he said simply, and Rose's heart lurched.

"You know?" she asked, astounded, and he nodded. "How?"

"Just a feeling." the Doctor said, revealing no more.

"He's my son." Rose said finally, and the Doctor smiled again.

"Who's the father?" he asked, not sure whether he wanted to know. Rose's face paled. "What?" he asked quickly, afraid he had said something wrong.

"Oh..." Rose said slowly. "Oh, I-I thought... You said you knew; I thought you knew that too. I'm sorry." She mumbled, and the Doctor frowned. She looked up into his eyes and swallowed. "It's you."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he nodded weakly, but neither smiled nor frowned, and didn't speak. Rose's face fell. "What?"

"No, nothing!" the Doctor said, forcing a smile onto his face. "It's... That's just... how?"

Rose swallowed and bit her lip. "Well, d'you remember, just before I got trapped here, when we were both in the other universe... We went to that planet, with all the rain?"

The Doctor screwed his face up, searching his memory desperately. "Anyway, that guy - well, not a guy, but you know what - anyway, this thing stuck that massive needle-y thing in you. And you fainted."

"Oh, yeah." he suddenly said, remembering the adventure. "Then when I woke up we were back in the TARDIS. You said nothing else happened." he frowned.

"Well, that's not... entirely true." she said slowly, and the Doctor's eyes widened. "I mean, I didn't know, at the time. It's just, well after you fainted, he stuck that needle thing in my stomach. And I remember him running off with it, and I took you back to the TARDIS, and then you woke up."

The Doctor processed the information slowly then looked up. "Wait, you didn't faint?"

Rose supressed a smirk. "No, only you fainted." He gave her an expression she could only call a pout, and was about to laugh when she realised the seriousness of the situation. "Anyway, I found out about the baby a couple of weeks after I got here, and... that's the only thing I could think of that could have caused it. Remember, I felt sick for the next two mornings? You thought I was just ill, an' you made me breakfast in bed. Then the next day... it happened. The battle."

The Doctor nodded, still not saying anything.

"I told you it was my mum." she said, for fear of the silence. "On Bad Wolf Bay, I said mum was pregnant. But it was me. 'Cause I... I couldn't do it, Doctor. I couldn't cope." Fresh tears broke her strong barrier and flooded down her pale cheeks. "Every time I looked down, and saw myself, pregnant, I only thought of you. An' it was killin' me. So, since no one really knew about us yet, mum and Pete adopted him, as soon as he was born." She paused. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, don't be." the Doctor insisted. "I mean, it's not - if I had been here - I mean -" he broke off, seeing Rose's expression. "It's great. Really." assured her.

Rose's eyes narrowed, studying the Doctor for his true feelings, then she asked the question again. "What d'you really think?"

The Doctor considered, breathing out slowly and running his hand through his hair. "I think..." he let out a puff of air. "I don't know what I think."

Rose nodded in understanding, begging herself not to feel the dissapointment. "When I found out, I didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Whenever I saw him... it was so hard. But it got easier, over time. What about you?"

The Doctor closed his eyes in thought. "I think that... It might be interesting to have a son again."

Rose's eyes lit up with hope. "Really?" she asked, doubting his voice. He nodded, smiling.

"It's been so long since I had a family." he told her. "It might be... good to have one again. But I haven't had a family for so long, Rose." he added. "I... I don't know what it would feel like."

"But..." Rose frowned. "Wait a minute... You're talkin' like - like he's still alive."

The Doctor looked up. "There _might_ be a way." he said, stressing the possibility. "If Jamie's part Time Lord, his mind is more advanced than others. His memories might still be safe. We might be able to draw out the alien part."

"They said he was dead." Rose said, letting the tears fall once more.

"They said he was human." the Doctor countered. "It's not definite." he said, to stop her from getting her hopes up too much. "It might not work."

"But you'll try?" she asked him, and he smiled.

"I'll do anything, you know that." He grinned in that way that had her heart beating faster each time, and now Rose knew he was back. Everything was going to be okay. "Anything for you. For you and for our son."

* * *

So? What do you all think? (If you think I've ruined it, just let me know. I promise I won't take offence.)

And do you have any idea how frustrating it is when you spend 19 chapters forcing yourself to write 'John', and now your mind won't let you write 'the Doctor'? It's driving me crazy. My backspace button is going to want revenge.


	21. Not Quite Sorted

Disclaimer: I think we can all take credit for the ship. (You know, the non-canon one that we all dreamed of through series two.)

So, just when you thought it was coming to an end, I threw this at you. :P

NTMR:  
-hopefully :D

* * *

**Chapter 21: Not Quite Sorted**

The Doctor led Rose up to the rooftop quickly, holding her hand in his to reassure himself that this was all real. Neither of them could speak, both as nervous as the other for what would happen next.

They reached the rooftop and the Doctor rushed over to Jamie's body, scanning the sonic screwdriver over the frozen with unbearable hope written clearly on his face.

After a moment, Rose could take the tension no longer and burst out at the Doctor. "Well?" she spluttered, as the Doctor continued to scan over the boy's body.

The Doctor didn't reply, an expression of disbelief and denial crossing his face as he flashed the screwdriver on and off over Jamie's forehead, eyes and hands. "No..." he muttered, his forehead creasing. He worked quicker, running the instrument all over Jamie's body with agonising results. "No, no, no, no, no..."

"What?" Rose asked worriedly. "What is it?"

"He's too far along." the Doctor said quickly, not believing the words, changing the setting on the screwdriver and scanning Jamie over and over again. "The alien's been using him for too long, he can't resurface." His eyes prickled but still he worked, and Rose turned away, raising her hands to her face with defeat.

He pressed the sonic device on and off, on and off, more times than he could count, trying any setting, just begging for a miracle, but Jamie's helpless body remained unmoving. The Doctor gritted his teeth in frustration but didn't give up.

At last, when all hope was almost lost, a surge of energy flowed through the screwdriver. The Doctor's hand snapped open and the device fell to the floor with a clatter. He raised his hand, cradled it with the other, then shook off the shock and looked up in hope at Jamie. The boy still didn't move.

He looked back down to where the screwdriver had fallen. It was glowing in a mesmerizing bright blue, the entire item lit up by the blinding light. The Doctor bent down, hypnotised by the light, and touched the item gently. It was stone cold, though the Doctor had expected the opposite. In the absence of the rapid clicking of the sonic screwdriver, Rose turned sharply and saw the Doctor kneeling down, holding the object carefully. Suddenly, a grin spread ecstatically across his face, and he jumped up with glee.

Rose didn't ask, for she knew the Doctor wouldn't answer, but watched in awe, excitement and fear as he ordered two Torchwood agents to carry the body after him. Without further explanation, he bounded forward and grabbed Rose's hand enthusiastically, kissing her once with joy on her forehead before sprinting towards the door on the roof.

Rose looked back to see Jamie's body being hauled onto a stretcher and carried after them energetically, and she smiled, though she had no idea why. She was pulled after the Doctor down he stairs, as neither one of them would have had the patience to wait in the lift, and didn't bother waiting for the agents behind them as they dashed out of the building, ignoring every sign of the battle that had taken place just a day previously.

- - - - - - -

Within minutes, though by the Doctor's watch it could easily have been hours, he and Rose collapsed against the centre console of the TARDIS, leaving the doors wide open for the following three people to burst in moments later. The Doctor gazed up at the central column and stroked the panelling happily, overjoyed to be back in his ship, then wasted no more time. With not a word of explanation to anyone, he drove the sonic screwdriver into a slot on the console and bounded over to the screen and whirled it around to face him.

The TARDIS' interior glow merged into a deep happy blue, a calming sensation that appeared to work on everyone except the Doctor. Rose immediately stopped breathing so heavily and focused everything on the Doctor, while the two men's notions to ask questions were immediately banished.

Rose ran over to the Doctor's side, looking anxiously back as her son's body. It was being wheeled into the TARDIS by some unfamiliar agents, who were more intrigued by the interior of the space ship than what the alien inside it was up to. They gazed around theroom in amazement, and the Doctor showed no sign of recognising them, but worked tirelessly on the console with his tongue slipping out between his lips in solid concentration.

After a moment of rapid, loud clicks, a loud pop was heard, and the end of the sonic screwdriver began to fizz loudly.

"No, no, no, no, no..." the Doctor muttered to himself, running around to the other side of the console and whacking it with his hammer.

"What's wrong?" Rose panicked, but the Doctor didn't answer. He ran back around to the sonic screwdriver and pushed some buttons carelessly, focusing on the Gallifreyan readings on the screen.

"There..." he said briefly, pushing down a lever and pressing a large clear button. "Almost - that's it! Done!" he cried, and his hand stopped mid-air. He glanced to Rose, licked his lower lip, then brought his hand down on a flashing blue button, sending the ship into the air.

The two other men in the ship glanced at each other in shock and bewilderment, then to Rose and the Doctor, who were still staring at each other, Rose shrieking with shock and joy, as they were thrown to the floor. One man reached for Jamie's stretcher as the boy began to roll away, and the other simply fell to the ground as the ship stopped suddenly, leaving a silence hanging in the air.

"What the bloody hell was that?" one of the men asked, and the Doctor looked over to them, as if realising for the first time that they were there.

"Oh." he said blankly. "Hello. Um, you might want to move." he advised calmly, then rushed at full speed towards the doors. Rose bolted after him, glancing sadly at Jamie, and the two men scrambled away, pulling the boy with them to safety.

The Doctor took a deep breath, then threw open the doors and looked out into the dark abyss of stars. He grinned.

"What?" Rose asked giddily, wrapping her arm round the Doctor's now that she was certain everything would be okay.

"Co-ordinates 456,742. The Helios Constellation, to the far west of the Gallentio Galaxy." he said happily. Rose gazed out at the dots of white in amazement. The Doctor looked down at her proudly. "This, Rose Tyler, is the most telepathically connected point in the Universe."

She looked up at him questioningly. "And we're here because...?" she started cheekily, though her heart was beating too fast to come up with a sarcastic reply.

"Well, Jamie's body is being used as a host. It should be irreversible, but then again, Jamie should be human." He grinned again and bounded out of Rose's grasp and back over to the controls, ignoring the Torchwood agents once again, and leaving the door wide open. Rose followed him over, giving an apologetic smile to the men and a quick glance at Jamie's peaceful, still body.

"You see..." he grabbed his sonic screwdriver enthusiastically from the console and ran over to Jamie with Rose not far behind, and scanned the boy's body quickly. "This Family uses telepathy. They hook onto their hosts through their minds, link up the thoughts, synchronise, and WHAM! Human host while they track down me." He rushed back over to the screen and started pressing random buttons. The central column began to move up and down rhythmically, though the ship didn't move.

"But - they got it wrong. They thought Jamie was human - they didn't detect his half-alien background because: One, it's very hard to track down a half-alien life form; and two, since he belongs in the other Universe anyway, his readings are always slightly off, like... ooh, like part of an image that's been moved very, very slightly to the left. That's what it's like. They can't track him properly. That's why it never registered in my mind that he was my son. So... anyway, when they tried to connect with his mind, Jamie managed to stay alive. He's well hidden, and just slightly out of position, but completely there, and completely alive!"

As a loud ping sounded in the room, the Doctor thrust the sonic screwdriver into the slot again, waited impatiently for a few seconds, then pulled it out again. He hopped over to Jamie, knelt down by his side, and beckoned Rose over.

"So, all _we_ need to do, is give the alien part of his mind a bit of a shock, use the telepathic connection here - which I've driven into my brilliant sonic screwdriver - to jolt him out, unfreeze Jamie's body, and he'll be absolutely brilliant!"

He held the sonic device up to Jamie's left ear, his tongue poking out of his mouth in focused concentration, and held the button down so that the bright blue light lit up the boy's face. Rose watched with anticipation and hope as he worked, crossing her fingers discreetly beside her.

After a few seconds, Rose felt her skin grew hot with what she assumed was disappointment, but the Doctor seemed undeterred. She looked up to the ceiling and closed her eyes, praying for the best.

Then the faint buzzing of the screwdriver stopped. Rose didn't look down, too afraid of seeing her son lying still, and the Doctor throwing down the sonic screwdriver and giving up.

"Rose?"

She looked down immediately. The Doctor hadn't spoken. Lying there on the cold metal grating, his skin clammy and his hair greasy with sweat, her son gazed up at her with wonder and fear.

"Jamie." she whispered, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Is that you?"

The boy's lip began to tremble and he sat bolt upright and flung his cold, clammy arms around Rose's neck. "I'm scared, Rosie." he whimpered into her neck, and Rose hugged his cool body tightly, closing her eyes as she felt the tears fall freely. "I'm scared of the monsters."

"Sh..." she said softly, her voice cracking as she ran her fingers through his hair delicately. "Rose's here, I'm here, don't worry."

"I heard him Rosie." he cried. "I don't remember anything. Just that he was angry. He was goin' to kill people."

"No, Jamie, no." she soothed him. "No, everything's fine. You're back now, you're back with me. It's all gonna be okay."

Jamie clutched Rose's neck, refusing to let go, and after several moments of peace, Rose opened her eyes to look at the Doctor. He smiled slightly, and she smiled back, a short laugh escaping as she did so. She pulled away from Jamie and turned him round to sit him on her lap. Wiping the tears away on her cheeks, she wrapped one arm around his waist and took his hand in he other.

"Jamie." she whispered softly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "There's someone you need to meet."

She lifted her's and Jamie's hands to point at the Doctor, resting her head against Jamie's minute shoulder. "This..." she told him proudly. "This man is the Doctor."

"Doctor." Jamie repeated, hiccuping as he used his free hand to wipe his eyes. "He's your friend."

The Doctor's eyes widened and Rose's suppresed a giggle. "Sorry?"

"Mickey told me." Jamie said breathlessly. "You took my sister to space." he informed the Doctor, who smiled happily.

"Yes." he said, looking straight into Rose's red, puffy eyes. "Yes I did."

Suddenly, Jamie broke free of Rose's grasp and ran over to the doors. Rose jumped up and ran after him, as did the Doctor. The boy stopped dead at the entrance and stared out at the stars.

"Wow." he said blankly.

The Doctor chuckled, his eyes not leaving the top of Jamie's head. "Yep. Wow."

"I'm in your spaceship." he stated. "Mickey said it's bigger on the inside."

"God, could that man not keep _any_ secret?" Rose muttered with amusement.

"Still," the Doctor whispered in her ear, still looking intently at Jamie. "At least we know his conscious wasn't damaged."

"This is space." Jamie said simply, staring in awe at the view. "Those things are stars."

"Yep." the Doctor agreed proudly.

"This is space." Rose said confidently.

The Doctor turned to look at her with a smile and slipped his hand into hers.

"This is home."

* * *

Wheeeeee...  
So, I think there'll be two more chapters, and then NOTHING! :(

Review please? You like?


	22. Not Quite Goodbye

Disclaimer: Hmm... What do _you_ think?

Right, you might get two updates here, if I manage to check through the last chapter (and I'm happy with it) in the next hour or so. Here's the penultimate chapter...

* * *

**Chapter 22: Not Quite Goodbye**

When Rose, the Doctor and Jaime walked in through the doors of the Tyler mansion later that day, they had no idea what would happen next. The Doctor stood to the side as Rose took Jamie in through the halls to his bedroom, where he slept off his exhausting past few months for the next few hours of daylight.

Jackie stumbled out of the living room just as Rose went upstairs, ran through the house to the front door and found the Doctor looking sheepish in the lobby. She flung her arms around him, much to his annoyance, but he didn't push her away all the same, just held her reluctantly as she muttered thanks, prayers and loving insults into his coat.

When Rose walked slowly back down the stairs, the Doctor grinned at her, and guided her mother away for her to instead wrap her arms around her daughter, mumbling with relief at her safety and well being. Rose laughed happily, but the mother and saughter parted as the door opened in front of them.

As Pete heaved himself in through the door, he didn't even remove his dirt-ridden coat before taking Jackie in his arms with relief, and they talked over each other as they reunited, both glad the other was okay, after only having talked once since the battle, over the phone.

The four of them eventually ended up in the Tylers' spacious living room, with Jackie and Pete sat together on on sofa, and the Doctor and Rose huddled together on the opposite one. After a moment of silence, Rose was the first to speak.

"So, how's Torchwood?" she asked, for fear of jumping into the conversation with "So, this is the Doctor." or "So, can we take Jamie and go travelling around the Universes with him?" and scaring her parents out of speech.

"It's... okay." Pete replied casually, his eyes not leaving the Doctor. "They're dealing with all the damage." There was another pause before Jackie's curiosity took over.

"So what happened?" she bursted out. "Are you the Doctor? Who was that other girl? And what about those aliens, hey? What was that about? Is Jamie okay?"

The Doctor's face suddenly grew blank. "Oh, Martha!" he realised. "I don't even know where she is!"

"Who's Martha?" Jackie asked protectively, and Rose rolled her eyes, embarrassed.

"D'you mean that new secretary?" Pete interrupted, and the Doctor nodded. "She's fine, she's helping clear up. I got away early to check on... everything."

"But you are the Doctor now?" Jackie checked.

"Yep." the Doctor said happily. "100 percent Time Lord. And the aliens are dealt with." he added brusquely.

"And..." Rose said quickly. "We wanted to talk to you. About Jaime." Pete and Jackie's eyes flickered up to meet the Doctor's, but he didn't speak. "The Doctor knows." Rose explained. "I-I had to tell 'him. It's his kid too."

"But is he okay? Where is he?" Jackie asked immediately.

"Upstairs. He's sleeping." Rose told her, and she breathed out with relief. "I put him to bed when we first came in. He's fine. All back to normal." She couldn't help but grin as she said so.

"And you're going back?" Jackie asked the two of them reluctantly, though already having guessed the answer.

"We're not sure." Rose asnwered truthfully, and Jackie's expression lightened. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"But either way... Jamie should know." Pete told them. "Do you think?"

"Yeah." the Doctor said, while Rose and Jackie nodded. "I mean, he might even know already."

Rose turned to look at him, surprised. "How d'you mean?"

"Well," the Doctor began, shifting awkwardly. "He might only be five or six, but I reckon he might've worked out by now that he's different from other people. He'll be cleverer, for one -"

"Okay." Rose patted his leg before he could go into a full Doctor-style rant about how superior the Time Lord race was. "Okay, so we tell him?" She looked around the room and saw everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

"It's his right to know." Pete said firmly, and it wasn't mentioned again.

- - - - - - -

Half an hour later, after Jackie being forced to call Rose the minute Jamie woke up if they weren't back, she and the Doctor left the house together, hand in hand, and walked down the path towards the road.

"So..." Rose began, not knowing what to say now that everything else was almost sorted and it was just the two of them.

"I'm so glad I found you again." the Doctor told her gently, and they stopped just before the gate out of the mansion. Rose looked up into his eyes, not sure what would be the right thing to do, and finally settled on smiling. The Doctor grinned back, and so, pushing all her doubts aside, she stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

As she pulled away, she felt his warm breath on her cheek, and kept eye contact with him as he lowered his lips slowly onto hers. Although in reality it was just for a second, the kiss seemed to go on forever before they parted and continued to walk down the path.

"Thank you." she said simply, as the walked, and the two of them shared a happy sideways glance as the Doctor took Rose's hand again and swung it through the air like a child. "For everything."

"And thank you." the Doctor replied earnestly. "I don't know how you managed the past few months."

Rose grinned. "Well, when you think you're going crazy, things like that are pretty easy to deal with."

"I'm sorry, about all this." he said, though Rose already knew.

"Don't be." she insisted, but he shook his head as they walked towards the Torchwood tower.

"I am. Really. I - I don't know how this all happened, and it shouldn't have. I don't... I don't know whether to be happy that I found you, or guilty that all of this happened to you."

"The first." Rose answered immediately.

"But, Rose, people have died. Mickey, Mickey died because of me. Helena, Suzie, Jeffrey, they died for me. All those explosions... So many people dead, because of me."

"Doctor, if it wasn't them, it would only have been someone else, some other time. Yes, I'm upset; yes, I miss Mickey, so much. But I've still got you, and you've still got me." Rose told him firmly, hoping that this wouldn't be one of the days she cried for Mickey.

- - - - - - -

When they reached the Torchwood building, the Doctor breathed out slowly. "Here we are." he said softly, and Rose squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"We don't have to stay." she promised. "We can just get Martha and go back to mum's."

The Doctor looked down at her with an inquisitive smile. "Just out of interest, why _do_ you still live with Jackie? Not as if you can't afford your own place."

"Well, I s'pose I always meant to, but I never got round to it. Same goes for Mickey, though when he almost got married three years ago, he did move out. But then he moved back. I guess it's just easier. And it meant I could be around Jamie more." She took a deep breath. "So, you ready?"

The Doctor nodded once, and the two of them walked into the building together.

When they walked in through the doors, the place fell to an almost silence. Some of the workers that were cleaning up the debris glared hatefully at them, while others walked over and patted him on the back, giving him their thanks. Some men, such as the two men who had helped them with Jamie, just ignored them, keeping their heads down as they sorted through the weaponry and rubbish.

The Doctor and Rose looked all around the ground floor for Martha, but eventually found her on the first floor with Kate, helping to organise files, folders and other non-weapon items that had been damaged or broken in the battle into several piles. She was ordering someone about and carrying a heavy chunk of metal to a storage unit when she saw the Doctor through the open door. Her face lightened immediately, and she dropped the object carelessly to the floor and dashed over to him without hesitation.

The Doctor picked her up in his arms as she ran up to him, and Rose stepped away slightly, looking down at her feet. But as soon as she did so, the Doctor released Martha and closed the gap between her and himself.

"So, uh, Rose, this is Martha." he said uselessly, and Martha held out her hand. Rose took it reluctantly.

"Yeah," she told the Doctor, shaking Martha's hand firmly and then pulling away to hold his. "We've kind of met."

Martha smiled, and Rose bit her lip sheepishly. "Um, I'm sorry." the older woman said. "For all the hassle I gave you about him." She prodded the Doctor's side.

Martha waved away the apology. "Oh, forget it. I'm sorry I got us here in the first place, even if I'm not sure how. Though, it turned out not to be such a bad thing after all." She indicated to the two of them, then glanced back at the people working away behind her.

"What are we gonna do now?" Martha asked the Doctor nervously. "Are we goin' home?"

The Doctor looked at Rose. "We... haven't really decided yet. I can take you home, if you want, but... well, what do _you_ want?" Martha was about to reply when she realised he was talking to Rose.

"I..." she began, taking her time to think about the question. "I think we should start again. As a proper family. At home."

While Martha frowned at the mention of a family, the Doctor's face fell slightly.

"So, here." he replied, trying not to grimace at the thought of mortgages and other domesticities. He felt Rose shake beside him and looked down to see her laughing.

"You're rubbish at hiding your feelings." she said. "Always have been. To me, anyway." She gave him a big grin, and said with no hesitation, "I want us to start again at home. _Our_ home. In the stars."

The Doctor, finally realising what she meant, grinned back at her. "Really?" he checked, and she nodded.

"As long as mum and dad let us, and that's what Jamie wants, oh, and as long as we stay away from trouble until he's older," with this she raised her free hand and pointed threateningly at him. "I don't see what else should stop us."

The Doctor looked back to Martha. "Well, then, whatever you want, Martha Jones. I should probably be able to find some way to make sure we can come back to this Universe to visit, but then off we go, into the stars! What d'you think?"

"I think..." Martha began sadly. "That it's time I went home."

The Doctor nodded understandingly, though he couldn't hide his guilt and dissapointment. "You sure?"

"Yeah. You two are meant to be together. Even I can see that." Martha told them. "Listen, Doctor, I - I just wanna say, about last night. I would've said anything to get you to change."

"Yeah." the Doctor nodded, to save her the embarrassment of him knowing how she felt.

"I mean, I wasn't really -"

"No, not at all."

"And it was just -"

"It's fine."

Martha turned to Rose. "And... I'm happy for you." she said, though it pained her to say it. "You deserve each other."

"Thanks." Rose said happily.

"Doctor? Martha, Rose?" came a voice from inside the room. Kate had approached them nervously. "I just wanted to say good bye." she said shortly. "And thank you."

"I'm sorry." the Doctor replied, and Kate knew he was talking about Mickey. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and drew out the silver fob watch. "I would be honoured, Kate, if you would take this." He held it out to her.

"I-I couldn't." Kate refused, but the Doctor insisted.

"Kate, you saved our lives. Please. I don't need it."

She took the item reluctantly, then frowned. "I don't hear anything."

"No, it's just a watch now." the Doctor explained. "But you should keep it. To remember what you did for us. For all of us."

"Thank you." Kate said earnestly, then turned around, and walked away without another word.

"So, here we are, then." Rose said after the brief silence.

"There we are, yes." the Doctor agreed with a grin. "Martha, I guess, if you want to... I dunno, wait in the TARDIS, or here, or wherever. We'll be quick, I promise, just a quick trip to Rose's, and then I'll come and sort out the TARDIS and take you home. If -"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Martha interrupted before she could change her own mind. "You've shown me... more than I could have ever have imagined. It's time for me to go home." she repeated, and the Doctor nodded once more. "I'm gonna finish helping here." she said, gesturing to the mess in the massive room. "I'll meet you in the TARDIS in a few hours, okay?"

The Doctor grinned. "Okay then." he agreed, and Martha turned back to the room with a sigh.

- - - - - - -

Rose and the Doctor left the tower at a much faster pace then that they had entered with, and only stopped once they were well away from the building. They looked up at each other with expressions of pure amusement as they walked on down the path back to the mansion.

"Where _is_ the TARDIS?" Rose asked suddenly. "Still in the middle of town where it was moved? Won't it look suspiscious there?"

"Rose, you know how it works. " the Doctor laughed. "Besides, what's going to happen to it there?"

Rose shrugged, and they walked back to the Tyler mansion hand in hand, laughing and joking about innapropriate graffiti on the TARDIS.

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Do you know how hard it was to refrain from Martha-bashing then?  
One chapter left. Then... The End.  
Please review before reading on, if the next chapter's up! I still need the feedback!


	23. Not Quite The End

Disclaimer: Oh, my God, this is this story's last ever disclaimer.  
...Oh, what a waste.

It's the last chapter. The last **ever** _chapter_. Yes, I'm using font formatting to celebrate. Enjoy, please!

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**Chapter 23: Not Quite The End**

"You'll stay for dinner?" Jackie asked persistently.

"I'm sorry, Jackie, I can't. This isn't even Martha's Universe, I can't make her stay here any longer." the Doctor sighed. "Look, as soon as I've dropped her back home, we'll come back. I think I can work out a way."

Jackie raised an eyebrow at him cynically. "What?" he asked indignantly. "I can! If I can work out how we got here in the first place, I can work out how to get back! Which I will do!"

"And then you'll come back for dinner?" Jackie ensured.

The Doctor shrugged. "Sure."

"Promise?"

The Doctor shrugged again. "Well..."

As a response, a wooden toy brick was thrown at him. "Ow!" he cried, pressing his temple where the toy had made contact. "Do you know how patronising it is for him that you gave him bricks to play with?" he asked her, and had a stuffed bear thrown at him.

"Don't you dare say 'Ow'."

- - - - - - -

Five hours later, the Time Lord returned to the mansion, exhausted, with Rose and a reluctant Martha by his side.

"Sorted." Rose said happily to her mother as they entered the place. "We can come back any time."

"Thanks to me." the Doctor grumbled. "Have you ot any idea how hard it is to - not only find out how we got here in the first place - but to replicate the motion sensory symplicate to determine whether it could happen again? And then find out how?"

"This is Martha." Rose introduced, ignoring the Doctor's expression of disbelief, and Martha shook Jackie's hand with a smile.

"Nice to meet you." she said politely.

"Hm, and you." was Jackie's reply. The Doctor would have hit her if he didn't fear for a slap.

"So you'll stay for dinner?" Jackie asked Rose, and the Doctor rolled his eyes dramatically.

"We need to take Martha home." he said. "But then, Jackie, we'll come straight back afterwards. I promise."

Jackie let out a hollow laugh. "With you flyin' that thing, it'll be a miracle if you get here before next week!"

"Mum, we'll take Martha home, then come straight back." Rose reassured her. "We've still gotta sort out what's happening with Jamie."

"All right, but you'd better." she warned the Doctor, and he held his hands up in mock surrender.

"What _is_ happening with Jamie?" Pete asked, wandering down the hall and handing a cup of tea to Jackie. "He's been asleep for hours."

"That's just his mind re-awakening. Nothing to worry about." he reassured Jackie and Pete.

"But what happens when he wakes up?" Pete questioned Rose and the Doctor. "We've already decided we'd tell him, but..."

"Well, I guess that's up to you." Jackie told Rose and the Doctor, hiding her emotion as she sipped from her mug.

"Mum," Rose insisted. "You were more of a mother to Jamie than I ever was. It's just as much your decision as it is ours. I'm not gonna take him away from you."

"Of course not, darlin'!" Jackie cried. "Look, you know I love that boy like he's my own son, but he isn't. He's yours. As long as you come and visit -"

"I think," the Doctor interrupted. "That we should let Jamie decide what he wants. It's his future." He slid his hand into Rose's. "And, I guess, even if he doesn't want to come, we can still come and visit."

"Really?" Rose asked unsurely, though not wanting to think about what would happen if Jamie didn't want to come.

"Definitely." the Doctor assured her.

"So, I guess this is goodbye for now." Rose said with a smile. "I'll get my stuff later."

"You're definitely goin' then." Jackie checked, setting her cup down on a table. "I can't change your mind?"

Rose shook her head, grinning, and pulled her mother into a hug. "I'll miss you." Jackie told her.

The Doctor held his hand out to Pete, who shook it firmly. "You look after her, Doctor." he told the Time Lord, who nodded, grinning.

"Of course." he replied, and checked over his shoulder briefly to see Martha standing awkwardly behind him.

Rose and Jackie parted, and Rose made her way over to hug Pete, while Jackie moved over to the Doctor.

"You'd better not let anythin' bad happen to her." Jackie warned him, and the Doctor laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it." he grinned still, and Jackie enveloped him in a hug, which for once, he didn't resist.

When Jackie released him, he backed away to Rose's side, sliding his hand once more into hers. Martha stood just behind them still, ignored amongst the goodbyes, and Rose and the Doctor backed up slightly so she was level with them.

"Good luck." Pete said finally, and the five people headed towards the door of the mansion, Jackie wiping a suddenly teary eye with her hand. Rose rushed up to give her another hug.

"Mum, we'll be back really soon." she assured her mother, then backed away to the Doctor again.

"We'll see you soon." Rose told her parents as the Doctor opened the door. "If Jamie wakes up, let him know where we are."

"'Course." Jackie told her and she made her way out of the house with the Doctor and Martha. "Love you!" she called after them as they walked down the path. Rose and the Doctor gave her a cheery wave as they bounded down the gravel and out of the front garden.

"Love you too!" Rose called back. "See you in a bit!"

- - - - - - -

"Right then!" the Doctor cried as he threw the blue doors open and ran inside the ship. "Oh, I've missed you." he told it, and it began to hum in a low drone, as if happy.

"So, Martha. How about one last trip?" he asked her, and Rose smiled, but Martha shook her head.

"I can't."

"Oh, come on!" Rose laughed, her excitement taking over now that she was home. "Just one! Why not?"

"Doctor, I just can't." she insisted.

"Really?" the Doctor tried. "Not even one? Not even a thank you? Please?"

"No." Martha said firmly, and he could tell she wouldn't be swayed.

"Fine." he said grumpily, setting the co-ordinates. "Home it is, then. London, England, Earth, our Universe. Here we come."

After a few seconds of crashing about inside the TARDIS, the ship landed outside a flat in London.

"Here we are, then." the Doctor smiled at Martha as the three of them exited the TARDIS. "I did it! Not a Zeppelin in sight!"

He looked down at Martha. "You're sure?"

"Definitely."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll be right back."

As the Doctor left the two of them, Martha shifted awkwardly on her feet.

"So..." Rose began with a grin.

"Look, I'm sorry if it's none of my business, but I got the impression that... Well, that Jamie was..."

"Our son." Rose finished for her, and Martha nodded slowly, not sure whether she should be more surprised.

"So, looks like this is where it ends, for me!" Martha tried to smile.

"Nah." Rose shook her head with a knowing smile. "This ain't the end."

"Maybe not for you." Martha countered.

"Well, y'know what?" Rose asked. "I don't think it is for you, either. 'Cause when you meet the Doctor... you can't ever just let go. Believe me, you've not finished yet."

Martha shrugged. "I know I've already said, but, well, I'm glad he found you again. He really does love you."

Rose smiled again. "Thanks."

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS with a bulky blue bag and a frown playing on his otherwise cheery face.

"You packed." he said by way of explanation. "You had already packed."

"I... figured." Martha said, taking the bag of clothes from him. "When I worked out who Rose was. I decided then."

"You'll always have your room in the TARDIS. If you ever want another trip." the Doctor promised her, and she smiled thankfully, not bothering to protest.

"I'll see you around then." she told him, and turned away, but then immediately turned back and held something up for his to take. It was her mobile phone.

"You'd better take this." she told him. "And if that ever starts ringing, well you'd better come running, mister." she said, smiling at Rose. "'Cause this isn't the end."

"No way." Rose agreed as the Doctor took the phone and slid it in his pocket.

"Never." the Doctor nodded, and walked over to give Martha a hug before she left.

"Good luck." he told her as he pulled away and returned to Rose's side.

Rose waved to her as she walked away, and slid her arm around the Doctor's waist. They watched her walk into her flat, then turned to each other.

"So," he began with a grin larger than before. "You ready to go see our son?"

"End of one adventure; beginning of another." Rose replied mischeviously as they walked back into the TARDIS.

"Ah, but isn't life just one big adventure?" the Doctor teased her back, and she laughed ecstatically, so excited to be back.

"No, this isn't the end, not just yet." he said, more serious this time, as he regretfully pulled his hand away from Rose's and began to input the co-ordinates to return to 'Pete's World'.

"Not quite."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One year later, a blue box landed with a rather loud crash on the corner of a pathway in London, where Zepplins filled the air and the surroundings were surprisingly quiet.

A tall man in a pinstripe suit and a long brown overcoat stepped from the box, followed shortly by a small boy with wild dark brown hair, wearing a similar brown suit to that of his father's. As he emerged from the box, he pulled out a blonde woman behind him, who closed the door gently as she took the boy's hand with a weak smile. She brushed down her jacket and glanced to the man, who was staring in front of them at the rows of graves.

The little boy reached up and wrapped his tiny hand around his father's, and the three figures walked into the service together. Across the feild, two other people stood, watching sadly as the vicar began his speech. They glanced up when the family arrived, and the four adults shared a glance that the boy could not understand.

"One year to this day," the vicar began, "The skies of London were filled with explosions, and a battle took place. A terrible battle, where many brave souls perished. Today, we remember those lives, and how they died to protect us all..."

Rose gazed around the graveyard, seeing many familiar faces and some strangers. Her eyes lingered on one woman, whose usually bright blonde hair was falling limply at her shoulders as tears dripped down her trembling cheeks.

The Doctor stared wordlessly at the huge stone monument, afraid to look away out of guilt. Already, ivy was creeping up the display and graves, though fresh flowers still sat on the grass in front of them.

Jamie gazed around at the strange pieces of stone, not exactly sure what was going on round him. A faint voice flickered in his mind, but he pushed it away without a thought.

As the service drew to an end, the family were approached by Jackie and Pete. A few brief greetings were exchanged, and the five of them walked out of the service together. As they exited, the Doctor turned, and caught sight of a young woman whose eyes shone with tears. Their eyes met, and both shared apologetic and thankful glances as they walked slowly from the remembrance display.

Jamie, once out of the feild, became excitable at seeing his grandparents, and laughter was shared all around in the absense of grief.

The Doctor, for once in his life, did not resist returning to his parents-in-law's mansion for dinner.

**THE END**

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-party poppers, confetti and sequins are thrown around-

THANK YOU to all of you for reading! Especially all those who reviewed and made this story worth writing. I've loved writing it, and I only hope you enjoyed reading it too.  
Special big thank-yous to _Braceface Freak _(for just being an uberly-fantastic best friend and critique), and all you who reviewed and stuck it out to the end.

And now, the end has come. Please leave a quick review as you hurry to exit this 'fic. Even if you've never reviewed before; even if you don't have an account.

And...  
Is this the end? Should it be? Yes? No? Maybe so? Sequel? Prequel?? Or should I stop right here and let this 'fic die now?

BYE!

(P.S. Oh, and a BIG thank you to .com for their transcripts, which came in very useful.)


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